Hidden Truths
by Toshirokun13
Summary: Ichigo moves to a new town trying to get away from a local gang he had been part of. He thinks his life is finally starting to slow down until he meets a small white-haired boy that seems to be hiding a dark secret. AU. Ichihitsu. Rated M to be safe.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Before we get to the story there are a few things that I would like to say: **

**First, I wanted to give a shout-out to xTKx, my new IchiHitsu friend and say "Thank You!" because you totally helped me figure out how I wanted to get this story started, which I was actually having a lot of issues with. **

**Second, I've decided I wanted to try and try out an AU story and there are a lot of new things I'm trying out, like characters I've never really worked with before and stuff like that so if some characters seem OOC at times I apologize, just let me know and I'll definitely try and fix it. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. **  
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Prologue

Ichigo Kurosaki was walking along a deserted street at night; one that he had walked about one hundred times before. He knew every single pebble on the street and it was an easy bet that the orange haired teenager would be able to navigate the street effortlessly even when blindfolded. But despite his familiarity with this particular street, Ichigo had never been too fond of the endless nights that always began at this particular location.

_Good riddance; I just need to finish my business here and then I can leave this wretched place forever and I never have to look back._

Ichigo finally reached what would seem like anyone else to be a dead end; but the carrot top knew better. He walked over to a rather large grouping of mismatched bricks that any average person might dismiss as a simple building error. After knocking in a very distinct pattern the block of bricks swung back like a door, revealing a man who had been silently waiting in the shadows.

"Kurosaki, the boss wants a word with you." The tall and lanky man said as he split the silence, his voice echoing around the long, dark tunnel. "I dunno what it's about, but it's got him in a right foul mood and you should know that it takes a lot to get under the boss's skin."

"As a matter a fact, I was just on my way to talk to him. I have a few things I need to sort out." Ichigo had hoped that the boss wouldn't find out about his plans, but very few things went unnoticed by the boss of the biggest gang in Shinkou City.

"Good luck with that man," the other man said, "I definitely don't envy your position, Kurosaki. You're going to have to have one hell of a speech to get'cha self out of this one."

The two men finally approached an antique door that looked very out of place, just like most everything else. It was, of course locked. The male ahead of Ichigo uncovered a small keypad that was carefully concealed by a small cloth; both men entered their respective numbers and waited until the door swung open to reveal a large crowded room. It was easy to see that all the men inside were either smoking, drinking, or surrounded by groups of women. The male that had escorted Ichigo thus far made his way over to a pair of huge eloquent and extravagant looking doors at the far back of the dark room, but not before whispering, "I'll tell 'im that you've arrived. Just wait here until he is ready to see you."

Ichigo merely smirked before looking around the familiar space; it hadn't changed one bit since he had been gone. In one of the far corners of the room there were a couple of couches where a pair of men were playing cards while smoking cigars and drinking. The majority of the room was filled with tables and on the far wall near the couches there was a stage where strippers would occasionally come out and perform at night as a special treat by the boss. Right across the room from the stage was the bar area, which was always the most crowded part of the room.

"Well well, if it isn't _the _Ichigo Kurosaki…" A voice came from behind the strawberry as he felt someone's hand smack him hard on the shoulder.

"I don't have time for games today, Renji." Ichigo said without even bothering to move a muscle in acknowledgement to the redhead.

"Come on… don't be like that, Strawberry." Renji shouted as he grinned while slapping Ichigo on the back again. However as soon as the grin had appeared it was gone, replaced with a serious frown. Renji looked around to make sure no-one was watching them before continuing. "You know man, you gotta be more careful… Rumors have been going around and people have been talking… about you leaving."

"They aren't rumors." Ichigo stated bluntly as he turned around to face the one person he had been able to trust one-hundred percent these past few years.

"Do you have a fucking death wish, Ichigo?" Renji almost shouted in surprise, "The boss isn't going to let you go easily… you know that, right? He doesn't take to losing people well, especially someone as useful as you."

"You should know as well as anyone that I only joined this damn gang to protect my family, but now the best way to protect them is to get as far away from here as possible." Ichigo noticed the doubtful look on his friend's face before continuing, "I'm sorry it had to come to this man, but I have to do whatever it takes to keep them safe and if that means skipping town that's what I gotta do."

Renji frowned, he knew that Ichigo had a point but they had been like brothers ever since elementary school. They had originally planned to join the gang and fight their way to the top together to make Shinkou City a safer place for everyone but then all of a sudden Ichigo decides to pull this crap and decides to just move away. "What the hell Ichigo? This isn't part of our plan."

"Actually, it's just the thing we need. We were never going to get to the top the way we were going. Just face it Renji, we serve no purpose other than to do the boss's dirty work."

"Well, if you're leaving then I'm going too. I have no reason to be here."

"No, that's not true. You need to stay here, Renji." Ichigo insisted as he set his large hand on top of the pineapple's shoulder.

"Wha-" Renji started, still confused, but he was interrupted by an adamant Ichigo.

"Just trust me on this man. Even though every part of me is begging to cut all ties to this place, I can't help but have the gut feeling that-"

"Kurosaki."

Ichigo and Renji froze instantly and very slowly Ichigo turned around to see one of the boss's personal flunkies standing so close he could feel the man's rancid breath on his face. _Crap! How much did he hear? If he finds out that we aren't loyal to the gang, there's no doubt he'll go to the boss in hope of some kind of payment._ Luckily for the two teenagers, the man didn't seem to have noticed let alone heard anything.

"The boss is ready for you." The man grunted, "Hmph… I've been told to bring you in." The large bulky man that Ichigo recognized as a man named Yammy yanked Ichigo's arm hard enough that Ichigo thought he might pull it out of its socket. The brute in front of Ichigo that went by the name of Yammy had always been known for his anger issues and aggressiveness, and it certainly played a huge part in getting him a position in the boss's personal guard.

Ichigo didn't even attempt to struggle; he knew it would not end well if he did. He sent a warning look in Renji's direction before being forcefully led over to the large doors at the far end of the room.

Yammy pounded on the doors with his fist with such force Ichigo was sure the doors would cave, but they stayed unmoved and still as if they were made of steel. A few moments of awkward silence passed before the doors finally opened and the two men entered.

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Ichigo had been taken to the boss's almost an hour ago. _What is taking so long? _Renji thought as he stood up and walked over to the ominous doors behind which Ichigo had disappeared. The redhead was just about to knock, and demand to be let in when the doors flew open and a group of men quickly ran in from behind him before promptly slamming the door in his face. Renji simply stood in front of the door dazed, still not exactly sure what had just happened. It was a few minutes later that the doors opened once again, but this time there was just a single figure that Renji could see and as the figure approached he recognized…

"Ichigo…" Renji breathed slowly as the orange haired teenager walked past him breathing rather hard. Ichigo silently mouthed 'later,' as he rushed past the redhead before hastily leaving through the door through which he had originally entered.

Renji could only imagine what had happened while Ichigo had been in with the boss. He had noticed a few black and blue marks that were bound to turn into some nasty bruises on Ichigo's face, neck and arms and was pretty sure that he also saw a small number of cuts on his arms as well. _Of course the boss wouldn't take well to what Ichigo had to say. I'm sure Ichigo ended up having to fight his way out._

Renji started to make his way back to the table he had been sitting at when something in his head suddenly clicked. _Those guys! The ones that rushed in right before Ichigo came out… they must have been reinforcements to try and knock some 'sense' into him._ Renji scratched his head, confused. _I don't ever remember seeing any of those guys around here before… but judging by how fast Ichigo came out of that room, they must not have been that tough.

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"What are you gonna about that Kurosaki guy, boss?"

"We don't need to do anything quite yet, Ichigo Kurosaki will come back to us soon enough… given the right reasons." The man in the large chair simply smiled, which made a chill fly down the spine of every single person in the room.

"But boss-" the man started to protest but was swiftly interrupted by the other.

"Are you questioning my methods? Do you believe that all will not work out as I have predicted?" The other man didn't dare reply, for fear of any consequences that might come with it.

"Ichigo Kurosaki might think that he can just leave us behind, but he will soon find out that once you join our little family you never truly leave. He will always be a part of this place and well; I don't much feel like saying goodbye to someone with his talents just yet…" The man paused and laughed and then a sudden thought struck him that made him let out a small chuckle. "This many just work out better than I had originally thought. Ichigo Kurosaki is going to prove a very valuable person indeed."

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**A/N: Sort of a slow start, I know... but I felt that this was a really important scene and I promise we will definitely see some Toshirou next chapter! In the meantime, pleaseeeee review! **


	2. A New Home

**A/N: I want to thank all my amazing reviewers! I don't really have much to say tonight other than, I hope you enjoy the newest chapter, it may have something to do the fact that it's two in the morning and I've been working on finishing and editing the chapter all night so I could get it up. Anyways! Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Bleach. If I did... well let's just say, it would be a dream come true for IchiHitsu fans everywhere.

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Chapter 1- A New Home

"Big brother! Where are you going?" A small girl shouted from the door of a rather plain house in the direction of the retreating figure that was her older brother. Said brother stopped and turned around as he heard his sister's cry. He slowly walked back towards where the girl was waiting and patted the top of her head reassuringly.

"Don't worry Yuzu; I'm just going out for a little walk to see what there is around here; I should back in time to help move everything inside." Ichigo snorted, "The old man isn't even supposed to get here for another hour or so with all our things… said there was a lot of traffic or something. I don't buy it though; I bet he was just goofing off like usual and lost track of time." After turning back around and waving goodbye Ichigo suggested, "Why don't you and Karin check out the new house and start thinking about where you guys want to put all your stuff?"

"That's a great idea, Big brother!" The girl exclaimed as she disappeared back into the house and Ichigo smiled as he faintly heard her as he was walking down the street, "Karin, where are you? Ichigo said that we could pick out our room and think about where everything could go!"

Ichigo walked down the street not knowing at all where he was going. He really didn't have anything in particular in mind; he just wanted to see what there was in this new town. _What's the name of this town again? Karakura wasn't it? It seems a lot smaller and so much more peaceful than Shinkou. _

Ichigo was so used to the hustle and bustle of the big city that he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself at the moment. This Karakura town had such a different feel than the city and Ichigo was actually reasonably pleased that his dad had suggested it.

"I wonder how Renji's doing…" Ichigo muttered to himself, he hoped that Renji wasn't still mad at him. Despite Ichigo leaving the _lovely_ company of his gang he felt that it was still worth something to keep up with their activities and have someone on the inside, just in case, you never know. But with Renji and him not currently on speaking terms he wasn't sure how valuable that "connection" was at the moment.

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"_Ichigo, what the hell was that all about yesterday?" Renji demanded, he had been promised an explanation which had still yet to be given. Just then Ichigo entered the small room, his arms full with various sizes of cardboard boxes and proceeded to drop them on his bed. He sat down on the part of the bed that wasn't already occupied by boxes before facing the redhead who was currently sitting on a desk opposite him with his feet resting on the chair in front of it. _

"_Really, it's not anything more than the fact that the boss had issues with me leaving, so I had to fight my way out. I just didn't want you to make a scene and get involved anymore than you have to be."_

"_That's bullshit and you know it." Renji scowled. "Why can't you just tell me the crazy thoughts that I know are running around in your head?"_

"_I know I told you I would tell you what was going on; and I really would… if I actually had any idea what I was doing." Ichigo smiled awkwardly in a futile attempt to sell his pathetic excuse and even though Renji could be kinda thick sometimes he saw right through Ichigo's lie._

"_Come on man… just tell me the truth!" Renji had had enough of Ichigo's lies. "What happened...?" After no reply from the strawberry, Renji just sighed and tried again. "We used to tell each other everything… no secrets between brothers right? Don't you trust me anymore?" _

"_You know it's not that Renji, It's complicated…" Ichigo suddenly got very quiet and muttered something that Renji couldn't hear._

_Renji groaned exasperatedly, "Sorry, didn't catch that."_

_Ichigo muttered something again, this time slightly louder and clearer, but not yet to the point where Renji was able to understand him. _

"_Ichigo, seriously… just spit it out." Renji had never had a lot of patience to begin with and this was seriously putting it to the test. _

_Ichigo took a deep breath and then blurted out, "Its-not-that-I-don't-trust-you-and-all-but-you-are-technically-the-enemy-and-what-if-you-slip-up-and-the-boss-figures-everything-out? If-that-happens-it's-game-over."_

_Renji couldn't believe his ears; did Ichigo seriously just call him the enemy? The redhead simply stared dumbstruck at his so-called best friend._

"_Renji, I..." Ichigo tried to apologize, but was interrupted when Renji suddenly spoke up._

"_The enemy…? Seriously, Ichigo?" Renji quickly stood up and walked over so that he and Ichigo's faces were just inches apart._

"_Renji… It's just-"_

"_Just stop Ichigo. You don't need to say anything… I get it. If you really want me to act like your enemy, I can do that." Without saying another word, Renji stormed out of the bedroom slamming the door with enough force that the entire room trembled. When Ichigo realized that Renji wasn't coming back he began to gather all his things before packing them away in the cardboard boxes on his bed.

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Ichigo turned a corner and found himself in front of rather large building surrounded by several playing fields set up for different kinds of sports. _This must be the new high school that I'm going to be attending. Seems in much better condition that the last high school I went to… if you used the word 'went' really loosely._ Ichigo hadn't really been able to regularly attend his previous high school due to various reasons, usually having something having to do the gang; but Ichigo did try to go every once in awhile so as not to completely fail out of high school.

Ichigo had been walking around town for just under an hour and it was actually a lot bigger than Ichigo had first realized, he had also been able to find a lot more than he thought he would. So far during his walk, he had come across a whole street full of colorful shops and various restaurants, a small grocery shop, a movie theater, and of course the school he had just passed. _I should probably head home soon. I told Yuzu I was only going out for a short walk; she might get worried if I don't get back to the house soon._

Ichigo looked around trying to figure out which way he should go to get back to his house. He hadn't really been paying all that much attention to all the confusing twists and turns he made while wandering around town. _Fuck. This is just brilliant… been in town one day and I'm already hopelessly lost._ Ichigo attempted to look for some sort of landmark he could use to help him find his way back, but he didn't see anything that looked even remotely familiar. Ichigo finally decided to just keep walking in the same direction he had been and hoped that if he kept walking he might either find something that he could use to navigate his way back or someone that would possibly be able to give him directions.

As Ichigo continued walking down the street he noticed that the buildings seem to get older and dirtier the more he walked, it made him feel like he was in Shinkou again. Most of the buildings he passed seemed like they hadn't been occupied in years and there were even a fair few that looked like they would collapse any second. Somehow Ichigo got the feeling that a lot of people probably avoided this particular part of town. _Maybe I should turn back… I don't really see myself getting anywhere wandering around in some ghost town like this… Wait, what's that?_

Ichigo started to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He didn't know if it was his mind playing tricks on him, but Ichigo could swear he saw the top of an apartment complex, he had checked out with his family, peeking out above the group of deserted buildings he was walking towards. _But if that's really the building I think it is, then that must mean my house should be only a few streets away. _

Ichigo remembered back to when he and his family had still been looking for a place to live. He hadn't particularly cared as to where they lived; anything was an upgrade from the dingy little 'house,' if one could really call it that, that they had been living in previously. Both Karin and Yuzu wanted to find an actual house, but their old man had voted for an apartment. He knew that living in an apartment would be a lot cheaper than a house in the long run and ended up taking the girls to tour the apartment that deceptively seemed like it was right in front of Ichigo's nose; but Karin and Yuzu insisted and Isshin couldn't possibly say no to his little girls. When Ichigo had noticed a house just down the street that was large enough for a family of four, but still small enough so that it wouldn't be hard to upkeep, Isshin called up the seller and bought the house immediately.

_Okay, well at least now I have some sort of idea of where I need to go. _Ichigo looked around for some sort of road that lead towards the apartment complex, there didn't seem to be any side roads and Ichigo lowered his head in utter defeat. He had finally figured out the direction he needed to go, but of course lady luck was not on his side tonight and she just couldn't make anything easy for the orange-haired teenager. However, fate has a funny way of working like that sometimes and Ichigo almost couldn't believe it when he saw a small alleyway to his immediate left. _Finally!_ Ichigo thought as he darted around the corner and into the alleyway being careful to keep the complex in view.

Ichigo had made it halfway down the alleyway before coming to a complete stop when he felt a sudden vibration from inside his front pants pocket. After fumbling with his phone for a few brief seconds he flipped it open and held it to his ear just in time to hear the annoyed voice of his tomboyish sister, Karin.

"Hey, Ichigo."

"Hey Karin, what's up?" Ichigo asked curious.

"Are you coming home soon? Dad just got here and Yuzu was really worried that something happened to you because you've been gone so long. She started crying when you didn't pick up when she called about five minutes ago." Ichigo could hear the small voice of his youngest sister shout in the background,

"You didn't have to tell him that, Karin!"

Karin was just about to shout something back at her sister, but was interrupted when she heard Ichigo's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Give the phone to Yuzu, would ya Karin?"

"Sure, whatever…" Karin answered, "Yuzu! Come here! Ichigo wants to talk to you." Karin shouted, trying to get the attention of her sister who had been asking their dad something. Ichigo could hear hurried footsteps and then all of a sudden the frantic voice of his youngest sister.

"Big brother? Where are you? You said you were only going for a short walk but you've been gone for over an hour! Are you okay? Why didn't you pick up when I called a few minutes ago? I was starting to get really scared." Yuzu asked as she bombarded her brother with what seemed like a list of endless questions. Ichigo could tell that Yuzu was on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry, Yuzu." Ichigo said, trying to calm his sister. "I'm sorry I didn't pick up when you called, I didn't feel my phone didn't go off; it must not have had any signal or something."

"You always pick up and when you didn't... I-I-I thought that something had happened to you. Karin tried to comfort me, but I was just about to ask dad to go out and look for you…" Yuzu continued like she hadn't heard anything Ichigo had just said.

"Shhh… Yuzu… it's okay… I'm sorry I worried you but I'm fine and I'm heading home right now. I got a little turned around so that's why I'm a little late." Ichigo began to walk again towards the end of the alley. If he was where he hoped he was, once he got out of this alley he should on or like a street away from the one his house was on. "I'll be home-" Ichigo wasn't able to finish his sentence because something suddenly caused his phone to fly out of his hand. The phone clattered loudly against the cement and Ichigo could hear Yuzu shouting, "Big brother, what was that! Dad! Ichigo suddenly stopped talking of a sudden!"

"Who's there?" Ichigo yelled, ignoring the discarded phone for the moment. Being part of a gang for years, you tend to learn a few things. One, you are never safe; two, you are always at your most vulnerable when you are unarmed and by yourself; and thirdly, nothing is ever nothing. Ichigo silently cursed himself; he never thought that he would be attacked in this new town so soon. Sure the 'ghost-town' he had been walking through seemed on the sketchy side, but it wasn't worse than anything he had faced in Shinkou.

"Whoever you are, I know you're there; so you might as well just stop hiding and face me like a man." Ichigo shouted again into the empty afternoon air. There was no reply, but Ichigo had expected that. Whoever was targeting him obviously intended on remaining hidden until the last possible second. Ichigo had been the best fighter in his old gang, but not for reasons that one usually was prized for in his, 'line of work.' Ichigo didn't overcome his opponents by brute force. He stopped, listened, and waited for his opponent to make the first move. Ichigo could usually guess a person's entire fighting style just from how they decided to start out the fight. From all his experience fighting he knew that the quiet ones were always the most dangerous. If someone stayed back, that gave them time to evaluate their options and formulate a battle plan as opposed to recklessly rushing in and throwing punch after blind punch.

_Are they ever going to make a move? _Ichigo had just finished thinking, when all of a sudden his phone seemingly exploded right in front of him. _What the hell was that?_ Ichigo looked all around him to try and find some sign of life. He was about to go over and inspect the remains of his phone when he felt a sharp point poke him in the lower part of his back, and heard a low growl.

"Take one more step and I'll run you through."

Ichigo put his hands up, hopefully to showing the person that he meant no harm and calmly replied, "If you don't lower your weapon, I'll have to forcibly disarm you. So just quit while you're ahead and I won't have to hurt you."

The person laughed and proceeded to press the blade against Ichigo's back a bit more forcibly, but with enough control to still not break the skin. "Bullshit. Don't think that I don't know why you're here."

"You do? Cause I don't. I randomly wandered over this way while trying to get back to my house." Ichigo stated simply, trying to keep his assailant talking.

"That's a pretty pathetic excuse. No-one ever comes through here; at least no-one comes here without a reason… and it always ends the same way." A sigh and then, "Don't you guys ever just give up?"

Ichigo was extremely confused now; who did this person think he was? Just from hearing his voice Ichigo could tell he was young; probably around the same age as himself if not a few years younger. But the blade being held against his back was so steady… he must also be fairly skilled with a sword to have such control. "I don't know who you think I am, but I can assure you that I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Why don't you just lower your weapon and we can talk about it."

"Stop lying already!" The voice now seemed almost frantic, "You've been found out, just admit it! You were sent to kill me!"

Ichigo couldn't wait any longer; this was getting way out of hand. It only took a fraction of a second for Ichigo to quickly turn around and face his attacker, before hastily grabbing and twisting the wrist that was firmly grasping the hilt of a rather long sword just enough so that a small gasp escaped the others lips and the sword fell to the ground useless. Ichigo kicked the sword away and was finally able to get a good look at his attacker. Ichigo almost gasped, quickly biting his lip in an attempt to suppress it.

Ichigo couldn't believe his eyes… In front of the strawberry stood an absolutely breathtaking boy with pale skin and unruly white hair. He looked as though he wasn't much older than thirteen; _is this really the same boy that just a few minutes ago threatened to run me through with his sword?_ Ichigo just couldn't believe it. Yes, the boy's hair was fairly dirty and unkempt and his clothes had a fair number of rips and tears, but he hardly seemed like the killing type… Ichigo knew the killing type and he just couldn't be one.

"Let go of me!" The white-haired boy shouted as he struggled to free his wrist, but Ichigo wasn't planning on doing as he was told until he got some answers.

"First, tell me why you attacked me." Ichigo asked.

"I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you." The boy snarled, still refusing to admit defeat while continuing in his attempts to pull free from the larger male.

Ichigo tried another approach, "Who's trying to kill you?"

"Let. Go. Of. Me. Now." The boy growled again. Ichigo heard the anger and frustration in the boy's voice, but his eyes told a different story. He saw pain, fear and desperation in those teal orbs and when Ichigo's grasp tightened around the small wrist, it elicited another sharp intake of breath from the youth. Then, a sudden thought struck Ichigo and very slowly he released his hold on the other's wrist.

"Wha… you're actually releasing me?" The boy asked as he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"I want to prove that I'm not going to hurt you." Ichigo stated as he walked over to where he had kicked the snowy-haired boy's sword. As he picked it up he noticed that it was a very elegant and magnificent looking sword when it wasn't about to piece his flesh. "Here ya go." Ichigo said as he handed the sword back to its owner, who still hadn't moved a muscle. "Will you at least answer me one question?"

The white-haired boy thought for a moment. Every cell in his body was screaming for him to run, but he had questions of his own and after a moment muttered, "As long as you answer a question of mine."

"Guess that's only fair." Ichigo smiled. "Shoot."

"If you aren't here to kill me as you suggest, why are you really in this part of town? This isn't the typical route for a leisurely afternoon stroll."

"Well, as unlikely as it sounds, I really was just walking around. My family and I just moved here today and I was exploring… but I got kind of lost and then saw an apartment complex that I remembered is just down the street from my new house and was just trying to figure out how to get over there." Ichigo scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed having to admit had gotten lost. The smaller didn't do much to acknowledge what Ichigo had said; so Ichigo went ahead and decided that it was his turn.

"What's your name?"

_What an odd question,_ The boy thought. He contemplated just telling him some random name, _I mean it's not like I'm ever going to see this guy ever again. But then, _he thought,_ if I'm never going to see this guy again, who would it hurt if he only knew my name._ "Toshirou… Toshirou Hitsugaya." The boy sighed.

Ichigo smiled again, "Well, It's nice to meet you Toshirou. My name's Ichigo Kurosaki."

For a moment it looked like Toshirou wanted to say something else, but as soon as he opened his mouth he quickly closed it, one hand shooting up to clutch his head before the boy started to back away from Ichigo slowly.

"Wait, Toshirou…" Ichigo started as he reached out to try and grab something of the boy's to hold him back for a moment, but Toshirou jumped backwards as soon as the strawberry extended his arm and before Ichigo knew it Toshirou had turned around and started sprinting in the opposite direction.

Ichigo was silent and didn't move for minutes, still processing everything that had just happened, and as he finally started to walk back towards his house he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever see the strange snowy-haired boy again.

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**A/N: Soooo? How was it? I gotta say I'm actually pretty curious about what you guys think of the scenes with the Kurosaki siblings, I don't know why but I had a lot of fun working with them. Did I do a good job portraying them? **

**You know how you can let me know and get me really inspired to start writing the next chapter asap? REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! Yaaay~! But honestly, I really do love to hear what you guys think about the story and also what you think is going to happen. You never know, if someone has an idea I really like, I might just incorporate it into the story! That's all for now, so... till next time!  
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	3. We Meet Again

**A/N: I want to start off this note by thanking all my reviewers! It really does make my day whenever I get a review so thanks!  
So funny thing about this chapter, I totally didn't mean to make it so long but I started writing and then I just couldn't stop and it just kept snowballing and then BAM! all of a sudden I have this 7,000ish word chapter. I probably won't make the chapters this long in the future, probably more around the 3,000 or 4,000 word mark, but I hope you guys enjoy the lengthiness chapter anyway. ^^**

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. It's sad I know, but I don't.**  
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Chapter 2- We Meet Again

When Ichigo saw his house approaching on the horizon he broke out into a jog, trying to get back as soon as possible to hopefully explain to his family why he was so late and why his phone had gone dead all of a sudden. Before Ichigo even reached the front door however, said door flew open and his father flew out the door with his foot aimed directly at his son's face.

"ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ichigo had no trouble quickly side stepping his old man and as Isshin was passing right next to him the teenager quickly brought his fist down on the man's head causing him to face plant on the ground. Without so much as a thought Isshin jumped up and ran back into the house shouting, "Masaki! What a cruel son we have! He comes home late and then the first thing he does when he gets home is to slam my face on the pavement!"

Ichigo sighed as he followed his insane father into the house to see the man crying against the wall where the poster of their late mother was currently hanging.

"It's about time you got home, Ichigo. You scared Yuzu half to death when you hung up on her earlier, Idiot." Karin said casually as she got up from where she had been sitting on the couch and walked over to where Ichigo was standing.

"Yea… sorry about that."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Ichigo." Karin said as she turned her head in the direction that her sister was in. "Seriously, it took dad and me almost a half an hour to calm her down. She ended up falling asleep on the couch waiting for you. So before you say or do anything, I suggest you go over and apologize to her."

Ichigo didn't want to argue with Karin, mainly because he knew she was right, not to mention he was feeling really guilty that he had scared Yuzu so much. She was such a sweet girl and had such a big heart and it just killed Ichigo to see her sad.

"Yuzu…?" Ichigo asked as he gently shook his sister's shoulder trying to coax her awake. Slowly, the small girl's eyelashes fluttered open, revealing her chocolate brown eyes, just like her brother's.

"Ichi…go?" Yuzu muttered sleepily, before jumping up realizing who she had just addressed. All signs that she had been asleep mere moments ago were completely gone. "Big brother, it is you! You're back! I'm so glad!" Yuzu yelled, crying into Ichigo's shirt as Ichigo whispered calming words to her and rubbed her back soothingly to calm her.

"I'm sorry, Yuzu… I got a little held up on my way home." Ichigo paused after thinking for a moment, deciding not to go into great detail about his encounter today. Yuzu didn't need to know what had actually happened earlier, that was for sure. "I… uh, accidently dropped and broke my phone when I tripped over something while walking home." He lied.

"Okay, well I'm glad you're back, Big brother." Yuzu whispered after she had finally stopped crying.

"So, Yuzu…"

"Mhmm?" The blond girl answered, her voice muffled by the fact that her face was still buried in Ichigo's chest.

"Have you had a chance to check out the new kitchen yet?"

"Yea," The girl sniffed, "All the appliances are really nice… but I can't really do much without any food to cook."

"Well, why don't you and Karin go out and get some food to fix that little dilemma." Ichigo suggested as a goofy smile spread across his face.

Yuzu jumped up, instantly alert with her eyes wide, "Can we really?" Ichigo nodded, "Do you know if there's a supermarket near our house?"

"As a matter of fact, there is a really nice supermarket about ten minutes down the street from our house. So if you ever get an urge to cook something that we don't have the ingredients for you don't have to wait for me or dad to take you like we had to back in the city."

"Yay! Thanks, Ichigo!" Yuzu exclaimed and proceeded to hug Ichigo tightly before running off to find Karin who had wandered out of the room at some point during their conversation. Before Ichigo knew it Yuzu had found her older sister and was dragging her out the door babbling something about some stew that she had read about and wanted to try and make for dinner. "Bye, Big brother! We'll be back soon and I'll be sure to make a really nice dinner to commemorate our first night in our new house!" Yuzu yelled before disappearing completely, a helpless Karin right behind her.

With the two smaller girls had gone, just Ichigo and his father remained in the house. Ichigo walked over towards the couch where his father had been sitting and reading a book. Isshin had heard Yuzu's outburst and rushed in like any father would, but when he saw that Ichigo was handling the situation, he decided to let his son finish what he had started.

"So what really happened on your walk today?" Isshin asked as his gaze drifted casually from his reading material to his son standing in front of him.

"Nothing really…" Ichigo wasn't sure he wanted to tell his dad, or anyone for that matter, about his meeting with the mysterious white-haired boy. He still didn't know what to make of it himself and didn't want to try and explain something he wasn't even sure about to his dad.

"Well, whenever you feel like telling me the truth Ichigo, just let me know." Isshin smiled as he decided to return his attention back to his reading.

"Hey, dad?" Ichigo finally asked, breaking the silence.

Isshin looked up once again in acknowledgement to his son's question, "Yea?"

"You… you don't think that there are… well, you know …gangs around here, do ya?" Ichigo asked while trying to sound causal, but failing horribly when he started to stumble over his words. "Cause, you know the whole reason we came here _was_ to escape my gang and I don't really want to move to a new place just to have everything repeat itself."

Isshin saw the worried expression on Ichigo's face and decided that the best thing to do right now would be to tell his son the complete truth. "I wish I could assure you that this town doesn't have its share of thugs and criminals, but son," Isshin said as he stood up and put a reassuring hand on Ichigo's shoulder, "The hard truth is that everywhere you go there will always be people who get enjoyment from hurting others. Do I think this place is won't have some criminals? No. But, will we be better off here than in Shinkou? I'd say that's a definite yes."

* * *

Ichigo woke up the next morning to the loud erratic beeping of his alarm clock. The orange-haired teenager continued to lay face down in his pillow ignoring his alarm at first, but finally couldn't stand the sound anymore and forced his eyes open. Ichigo brought his hand closest to the alarm clock out from under the covers of his bed and smacked the snooze button in hopes that the shrill sound would stop, but no matter how many times he hit the snooze button the alarm would not cease.

_Ugh… why won't my damn alarm clock just turn off already…? _It was just then that Ichigo had remembered he had set a second alarm on his phone. Ichigo had a really bad habit of subconsciously turning off his alarm when it went off in the morning and today was one of those days that he couldn't afford to oversleep. Ichigo still being half-asleep didn't help matters in the least when he tried to pick up his phone while still lying comfortably in his bed. Before he knew it, he accidentally knocked the phone off his nightstand and the small device (that was still ringing, loud as ever) fell in the gap between the nightstand and the bed. Ichigo was now forced to push himself off his bed so he could crouch down by the side of the bed and grab the source of the noise, before finally silencing it. Ichigo set the phone back on the nightstand and was just wondering whether or not he should go downstairs when his stomach growled loudly, making the decision for him.

Ichigo walked slowly down the stairs and as soon as he entered the living room he could hear and smell the sounds of his sisters talking in the kitchen.

"Good morning, big brother!" Yuzu shouted as she greeted her brother with a large smile and transferred some scrambled eggs she had just finished cooking onto a plate before pushing it over towards where Ichigo was sitting. "Oh!" she said as her head popped up. "I also just finished brewing a fresh pot of coffee if you wanted some."

Ichigo nodded to show that he understood and before he even thought about getting up there was a steaming hot cup of coffee placed in front of him. "Yuzu, you really are too much." Ichigo chuckled as he began to drink, he could already feel his body and mind waking up and becoming more alert. Ichigo had just remembered that he had heard Karin's voice before he had entered the kitchen, but now when he looked around the room he didn't see her anywhere. "Where'd Karin go? I could of sworn I heard you guys talking before I came in."

"Karin said that she wanted to get to school early today. She just left." Yuzu answered as she finished putting a plate together for herself before sitting down right next to Ichigo and started to eat. "Are you excited for your first day, big brother?" she asked curiously.

"Eh, not really… I've never been much into school, but it will be interesting to see how different this school is from the one I went to back in Shinkou. I'm hoping that these teachers might actually know what they are talking about… then I might actually learn something."

Ichigo finished his breakfast and put his plate in the sink before going back up to his room to change into his school uniform. He gathered everything he needed for his first day of classes and went back downstairs to say goodbye to his younger sister.

"Hey Yuzu, are you gonna be okay walking to school this morning?" Ichigo asked.

"Yup!" Yuzu replied cheerfully. "Karin told me how to get there before she left this morning and she said that if I got lost I could always call her and she would be able to give me directions."

"Okay, well if there's nothing else you need, I think I'm gonna head to school myself." Ichigo knew from his walk the other day that it was probably going to take him about twenty to thirty minutes to get to the high school, depending on how fast or slow he felt like walking.

"Oh, Ichigo! Before you go… I packed you a lunch for today… I hope you don't mind. I was packing my own and Karin's and so I decided to just go ahead and pack you one too." Yuzu said as she blushed and held out a small brown paper bag for her brother to take, which he did gratefully.

"Thanks, Yuzu." Ichigo couldn't believe how much the small girl resembled their mother; not only did she have her mother's beautiful blond hair, but she also had her kind sense of nature and motherly instincts. Ichigo ruffled Yuzu's hair lightly before heading outside. As soon as Ichigo stepped outside, he was met with a rather large gust of wind blowing in his face. _Wow. The wind is pretty strong today; I guess I should grab a jacket so I don't freeze on my way to school._ Ichigo disappeared into his house for a brief moment, returning once he had gotten a suitable jacket from his room and resumed his walk to school.

* * *

Toshirou hadn't been able to sleep at all last night. He felt exhausted, but no matter how long he lied down he just couldn't seem to fall asleep. But really… had he expected any less? He couldn't remember the last time he had been able to get a decent night's sleep. Toshirou looked at it sometimes as some sort of blessing in disguise, because if he actually did fall into a deep sleep then that would give his enemies an opening to jump him, and that was out of the question.

Toshirou sighed as he sat up. _At least my head has stopped hurting…_ For as long as he could remember Toshirou suffered from frequent migraines and they always had had a bad habit of showing up at the most inopportune times. The severity would vary from time to time but sometimes the pain would get so bad that he wouldn't even be able to stand upright without feeling dizzy or lightheaded; in those cases, Toshirou would usually just collapse somewhere and attempt to sleep it off.

Toshirou shook his head in an attempt to wake himself up and after finding the bag that he kept all his things in, he pulled out a rather ratty looking school uniform and a bottle of water. The snowy-haired boy quickly untwisted the cap and took a small sip, the cool liquid soothing his dry throat. Toshirou quickly changed into his uniform before putting the water bottle and clothes back into his bag.

Toshirou walked out into the crisp morning air and it just so happened to be one of those mornings that he really wished he still had his old jacket. The wind was blowing in all different directions cutting through his thin uniform like it wasn't even there. _Whatever, I'll be able to warm up once I get to school._ Normally, Toshirou really liked it when it was cold out, but there was a huge difference between a pleasant cool morning and a cold windy morning. Toshirou decided that the best way to stay warm would probably be to run the rest of the way to school. The constant movement would hopefully warm up his muscles. The snow-haired boy was in actuality an extremely fast runner; probably the fastest person in his class and if he full out sprinted he should be able to get to school in just under a few minutes.

Toshirou ran as fast as he could and in no time at all he could see the familiar school building in front of him. Toshirou walked inside and let out a content sigh when the warmth of the school enveloped his small body. The halls were deserted as they always tended to be when Toshirou got to school, but that probably had to do with the fact that Toshirou always got to school a whole hour before most students arrived. Toshirou didn't mind it in the least bit; he had always been alone so the concept was nothing new to him. Toshirou put everything away in his locker except for a pen, notebook and a small book that he rarely went anywhere without. Walking through the halls, Toshirou had no trouble finding his way to his first class and was standing right outside classroom 230 in no time at all. The boy gingerly slid down the wall, his back resting against the cool tiles and had just to read his book when he heard a voice above him that made him jump slightly.

"Good Morning, Hitsugaya-kun." Toshirou looked up and saw a tall man with white hair not too much unlike his, except for the fact that it was much longer and actually obeyed the law of gravity, walking towards him with his hand raised in greeting.

"Good morning, Jushiro." Toshirou replied as he slightly turned his gaze upwards in the direction of the older man.

Jushiro smiled brightly before getting out his keys and unlocking the door, disappearing for a second before popping his head out once more to face the white haired youth. "You know, you can come in if you'd like to sit down. You look like you're about to fall over."

Toshirou couldn't deny the fact that he was tired. He hadn't gotten much, if any, sleep last night and all the energy he had had been used running to school. "Whatever." Toshirou muttered as he slowly got to his feet and walked inside the classroom occupying a seat at the back of the room. Almost instantly, Toshirou could feel his eyelids getting heavy and couldn't help himself as he let his head down to rest in the crook of his crossed arms.

"If you're that tired Hitsugaya-kun, I don't see any problem in taking a short nap before class begins in about forty-five minutes. I'll be sure to wake you up before I start class."

Toshirou heard the older man's voice and as much as he wanted to protest he couldn't find the words. As he was already drifting off to sleep.

Jushiro abandoned the papers he had been grading and watched as the snowy-haired boy let himself relax enough to eventually go to sleep. Only a select few people knew the true extent of the unique relationship between the two white haired males. Jushiro was one of very few that knew the truth about Toshirou's past and his current troubles. He was in fact, an old family friend of the Hitsugaya's. Most people at school thought that Toshirou was just a stuck up child genius that didn't like anyone and chose to be alone. The truth nevertheless, couldn't be farther from the fact.

* * *

The warning bell could be heard through the entire school, ringing shrilly and telling all the students that they had five minutes to get to their respective classes. A tall woman with long silky, strawberry blond hair was running through the halls in a huge rush to get to wherever she was going and knocking anyone out of her way to get there. She arrived at her classroom and burst into the room before getting shushed by her teacher.

"Rangiku, please be quiet." Ukitake said softly as he pointed towards the end of the classroom indicating the sleeping boy. Rangiku rushed over to him ignoring Ukitake's protests and when she lightly touched his shoulder, Toshirou jumped back and would have surely fallen out of his chair if it hadn't been for Rangiku grabbing his arms and steadying him.

"Good morning, Toshirou!" Rangiku squealed excitedly.

"It was." Toshirou muttered under his breath, just quiet enough so that the strawberry blond couldn't hear him.

"Guess what!" Rangiku almost shouted, causing Toshirou to flinch slightly.

"You're actually going to be quiet and let me be for once?" Toshirou said simply.

"Awn, Toshirou, you're so mean." Rangiku said feigning hurt. "But, no. Did you know that there's going to be a new student today?"

"No, and I don't see why I should care." Toshirou replied coldly.

"Well actually, I-" Rangiku started to say but just then Ukitake had gotten up from the seat at his desk and walked around so that he was he faced the now filled classroom.

"Everyone quiet down! Before we get into any math today, I have a few announcements." Ukitake paused for a moment waiting for everyone to stop talking and when everyone was paying attention he continued, "Now that winter break is just about upon us, don't forget to start reviewing everything that we have learned this semester. The final exam this class will be a week from Friday. It may seem like a lot of time now, but if you don't start studying soon I can guarantee that the date will creep up on you and before you know it, it will be exam day. Also, at the end of class I will be handing out a study guide for the exam and as a little incentive for all of you to do it, I will be giving anyone who turns in a completed study guide on exam day ten points of extra credit on the exam." Murmuring and hushed whispers took over the class. Jushiro very rarely ever gave any extra credit and when he did, most people would take advantage of it without a second thought. "Now, onto the last piece of business. Today we are welcoming a new student to our class, we don't usually let people join so late in the year but I still expect every one of you to make him feel welcome."

Toshirou hadn't really been paying much attention to what the teacher had been saying, but when his eyes caught on a certain orange-haired teenager who had just walked into the room he felt his body go numb and wished he could just disappear from his seat and be anywhere but here.

"-new student. His name is Ichigo Kurosaki." Toshirou caught the last part of Ukitake introducing the new student.

"Hey." Ichigo said loudly so that the entire class could hear him. "As Mr. Ukitake said, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki and I just moved here with my family from the city."

"Well, we are happy to have you in our class Mr. Kurosaki." Ukitake glanced around the classroom trying to find a place for Ichigo to sit. There was only one free seat in the back of the classroom. "Please take your things and have a seat next to Mr. Hitsugaya."

Toshirou was just about ready to have a heart attack. Of course… the only empty seat in the classroom just _had_ to be the one next to his! Toshirou just continued to stare straight ahead at the blackboard and Ukitake who now started to write equations on the board.

Ichigo walked back towards where Ukitake had indicated and took a seat next to Toshirou, who he still for god know what reason hadn't put two and two together and recognized the boy. Ichigo turned towards Toshirou's desk and extended his arm towards the youth. "Hey, nice to meet- uh…" Ichigo froze when he turned his head to get a better look at the boy sitting next to him. "T-Toshirou?" Ichigo spluttered. "Holy crap, It is you! No offense, but of all the places… school is one of the last places I figured we would meet up again." Toshirou said nothing hoping that if he just ignored the strawberry he would stop talking to him. No such luck. "Good to see you again, Toshirou." Again, Toshirou remained silent and Ichigo realizing that he didn't want to talk decided to leave the boy alone for awhile.

The class dragged on and although Ukitake was a really charismatic teacher, they were at a really dull part and the majority of the class passed very uneventfully. In what seemed like no time at all, Ichigo's gaze drifted from Ukitake and the lesson towards the white-haired boy sitting next to him. He couldn't explain it but he couldn't stop himself from taking a peek at him every once in awhile.

At the end of class the bell rang, once again telling students to proceed to their next class. Toshirou quickly packed up his stuff trying to get out of the room as fast as he could, but heard someone calling him as he neared Ukitake's desk.

"Hitsugaya-kun, could I borrow you for a moment?"

Reluctantly, Toshirou turned around to see Ukitake and_… oh god… Ichigo Kurosaki. This can't be good._

"Hitsugaya-kun, I was wondering if you would be willing to show our new student here, around school." Ukitake asked while turning his head in Ichigo's direction. "You know, show him where everything is and help him find his classes and such; I'm sure he would really appreciate it."

Toshirou sighed heavily; it seemed that fate insisted on not letting Toshirou escape from the carrot top. Of course, out of all the students in the class, Ukitake just _had_ to pick him. _What am I supposed to do now…? I'm going to look like a complete jerk if I refuse, but if I agree then who knows what is going to happen?_

After much consideration Toshirou started walking towards the door and when he realized that Ichigo was not following him he looked over his shoulder and growled, "Well? Are you coming or not?"

Ichigo jumped slightly in surprise, but once recovered he ran excitedly out the door after Toshirou, quite surprised that the white-haired boy had actually agreed.

Jushiro couldn't help but smile as he watched the two boys leave his classroom. _Maybe this is just what Toshirou needs.

* * *

_

Much to Ichigo's pleasure and Toshirou's dismay, the two boys were just about inseparable for the rest of the day. They had a fair number of classes together and even when they didn't have a class together they would always meet up at Ichigo's locker so that Toshirou could show him where he needed to go next. The more time Ichigo spent with Toshirou the more infatuated he seemed to become with the smaller male.

"So where are we off to now?" Ichigo asked cheerfully.

"Lunch." Toshirou groaned.

"Lead the way." Ichigo smiled as he followed Toshirou's already retreating figure.

Toshirou led Ichigo towards a very large room that was filled with rows and rows of tables, most of which were occupied by students that had already started eating. "This is the cafeteria." Toshirou said in a bored tone. "There is a large courtyard area we can also eat in, but that usually only happens in the spring and summer time when the weather is nice."

Ichigo looked around the cafeteria and was blown away at how large it was. Back in Shinkou they didn't really even have a proper cafeteria, it had just been two classrooms put together with one of the walls knocked out to join the rooms. Ichigo spotted a vacant table and before Toshirou knew what happened, he was being dragged over to the table by the strawberry.

"Don't you have a lunch with you today, Toshirou?" Ichigo asked after he had begun eating and saw that Toshirou remained still in his seat.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I just don't."

"Well, in that case why don't you have some of mine? My sister put together my lunch but she put in a lot of watermelon and I just don't think that I'm going to be able to eat it all, especially with everything else that she packed me."

Toshirou's head instantly jerked in Ichigo's direction when he heard Ichigo mention watermelon. He loved watermelon, but it had been so long since he had actually been able to eat any.

"It's fine, I'm not really hungry…" Toshirou lied, but a few seconds later as if on cue, Toshirou's stomach growled loudly.

"Suuureee, Toshirou… and I'm sure that your stomach growling like an angry bear has nothing whatsoever to do with that." Ichigo smirked. Realizing that Toshirou was not going to ask for the watermelon himself, he took out the slices of watermelon handing one to Toshirou in the process. "Take it." He firmly stated.

"Fine." Toshirou muttered as he took the watermelon slice hesitantly. It wasn't like he didn't appreciate it, he just wasn't used to people caring about him. Toshirou had been on his own for as long as he could remember and had always depended on himself for everything. This was especially true during school; Toshirou had always been a loner and rarely ever talked with anyone. Because of that, most people tended to avoid him.

Toshirou couldn't explain it, but despite how he acted he really wasn't having that bad of a day. No matter how cold Toshirou was towards Ichigo, the strawberry would simply shake it off like it was nothing. Toshirou was sure before that today was going to be a complete disaster… showing a guy around the school that he had attacked just yesterday; but he had so far been wrong. There was just something about that damned carrot top that made it… dare he say it? …enjoyable to be around? _No! _Toshirou thought hastily,_ I can't afford to get close to this guy. That would just be another person I would be putting in danger._

"Is there something wrong?" Ichigo asked curiously. Toshirou hadn't even taken one bite of the watermelon slice since Ichigo had given it to him; he simply stared at it, in deep thought.

"Oh, nothing, it's nothing… really." Toshirou said as he shook his head vigorously. He looked down at the juicy watermelon slice, practically drooling. When Toshirou couldn't resist anymore he quickly devoured the slice in just a matter of seconds. He licked his lips hungrily and when he looked down he saw another two slices in front of him. Toshirou turned his head to the side to see Ichigo grinning madly and merely sighed before quietly muttering, "Thanks."

* * *

The rest of the day proceeded much like the morning had, Toshirou would show Ichigo where his classes were and by the end of the day, Ichigo was starting to get the hang of where everything was. Before Ichigo knew it, his day with Toshirou was coming to an end and he couldn't help but feel a little sad. At least he still had the walk home to enjoy the white-haired boy's company.

"Aren't you going to put your jacket on Toshirou? It's pretty cold out today." Ichigo asked the younger male as he waiting for him to get his things from the locker.

"No. The only jacket I had got ripped up about three weeks ago." Toshirou said casually. "It's fine though, I don't care. I like the cold if you were wondering."

"Okay then…" Ichigo replied, still a bit skeptical.

The two teenagers left the comfortable temperature of the school and ventured out into the chilly, windy afternoon. They didn't say much as they approached the school gates, and while Toshirou was perfectly comfortable with the silence Ichigo wasn't and he was desperately trying to think a way to break it. Ichigo found himself looking around trying to come up with a topic of conversation when in the corner of his eye he thought that he saw Toshirou shiver slightly.

"You doing okay, Toshirou?"

"It's fine. It's just cold when the wind starts acting up." Toshirou said as he started to rub his hands together to try and keep himself warm. Toshirou silently cursed himself when he wasn't able to suppress another, more violent shiver.

"Here Toshirou, take this," Ichigo said as he removed his own jacket and draped it over the younger's shoulder's. "You need it more than I do and I don't mind letting you have it until you can get a new one."

_Why is he being so nice to me?_ Toshirou thought to himself, completely and utterly confused._ I fucking attacked him yesterday and even threatened to take his life... in all honesty he should hate my guts!_

"Gimme your bag a sec, I'll hold it while you put on the jacket more comfortably."

Toshirou finally regained his composure muttering, "Tch. As long as it makes you stop whining."

"Whatever you say Toshirou, whatever you say." Ichigo laughed.

The two boys continued to walk until Toshirou bid Ichigo farewell. The two parted ways and as Ichigo continued on the way to his house he found himself for once, looking very much forward to school the next day.

* * *

Toshirou had been in an unusually good mood ever since Ichigo had left about a half hour ago. It had taken him an extra twenty minutes to get back, but that was only because Toshirou had taken the scenic route through Karakura Park. Toshirou continued walking along, but he couldn't help but feel that something or someone was watching him and when you were Toshirou that was never a good thing. Toshirou knew that he had to get away from this place as fast as he could, it didn't matter where he went as long as he went somewhere far away from here. Toshirou also knew that whoever was watching him would make a move as soon as he showed any sign that he knew that they were there so he would have to be quick if he wanted to have a chance at getting away.

If he could just get back to the end of the street, then he could make a break for Karakura Park and hopefully lose whatever it was that was following him in there. _It's now or never, _Toshirou thought to himself and quickly spun around on the spot running as fast as he could towards the other end of the street. He had been running for a few seconds and still nothing unusual had jumped out at him, _maybe it really was just my imagination?_ And as luck would have it, as soon as the thought struck Toshirou, a tall man calmly walked out of the shadows and stared directly at Toshirou smiling wickedly.

"Y-you…" Toshirou breathed.

"Good afternoon, little Toshi-kun." The man greeted the white-haired boy mockingly.

_Crap!_ Toshirou thought to himself as the man started to walk over towards where he was still standing. _I could take this guy if I had my sword… but we aren't allowed weapons at school so I never bring it. The one time that I don't have my sword… the bastard! He knew that I would be unarmed while walking back from school. Oh well, I have no choice… I'm just gonna have to_ _run for it this time._ Toshirou started to run again but was quickly stopped when another man appeared from behind him and grabbed him by the collar of Ichigo's jacket throwing him into the nearest wall. Toshirou gasped when he made contact with the hard surface and slid down the wall trying to catch his breath again.

"Where do you think you're going? The fun's just about to begin!" All of a sudden, three other men emerged from the shadows and into the street joining the two men that were already there. They all surrounded Toshirou along with the man who had appeared first; their leader obviously. Using the wall for support, Toshirou managed to get to his feet and glare at the man in front of him.

"Fuck off." Toshirou wheezed and then he did something that most people would never even think of doing, he spit in the man's face.

"Learn some respect, kid." The man snapped his fingers and before Toshirou knew what was happening one of the men that had been behind the leader leapt forward, grabbed Toshirou's neck and held the boy up off the ground so that he wouldn't be able to breathe. Toshirou struggled desperately to escape the man's grasp but he had to be three times his size and soon Toshirou was feeling very dizzy and there were black spots eating away at his vision. Toshirou was convinced that the man would keep choking him until he blacked out, but when all seemed lost the larger man suddenly let go of Toshirou's throat and he fell to the ground gasping for air.

"W…why do you guys k…keep trying to kill me? Why can't you… just leave me alone." Toshirou managed to wheeze.

"Silly, silly boy, we aren't going to kill you. That would be stupid. How much fun of a pet will you be if you're dead?" The man laughed.

"B-bastard… I'm no-one's pet." Toshirou growled.

"This will teach ya to talk back to the boss, you filthy brat!" One of the men roared from behind the boss. He walked over to Toshirou and started kicking the boy in the stomach as if to emphasize his point. Toshirou refused to cry or scream; he knew that it would just egg the men on even more. He simply laid there and took it until it was too much and then let he let the darkness take him.

* * *

Ichigo was just about home when he realized that he was still carrying Toshirou's backpack. _Uh oh… I guess I never gave it back to him after he put on my jacket. I'll just go back where we first met and see if he is somewhere around there._ Ichigo broke out into a run and shortly found himself in the very same alleyway where Toshirou had attacked him just yesterday.

"Toshirou! Are you here?" Ichigo yelled. The alley was silent and Ichigo decided to check around, maybe he's somewhere close by. _It's a long shot really, there's no guarantee that he is anywhere near here, but this is the best I can do. _Ichigo walked out of the alleyway and into a much larger street. He called Toshirou's name again, but same as before, there was no response. Ichigo was just about ready to give up when he spotted another small alley way directly across from where he was standing. _I'll just check this last place and if Toshirou' s not there then I'll just have to wait to give him back his bag tomorrow in school._

By some strange stroke of luck, Ichigo stepped into the alley and saw a person who appeared to be sleeping on the ground… a person with distinctive white hair.

"Toshirou!" Ichigo yelled in surprise and he ran over to the form lying on the ground. Ichigo almost shouted in surprise when he saw an ugly bruise on the boy's neck. "Toshirou? Toshirou please, you gotta wake up." Ichigo pleaded, hoping Toshirou would hear him and wake up. Ichigo tried everything he could think of to rouse the boy, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, Ichigo decided that he would just have to take Toshirou back to his house. Ichigo picked up Toshirou and started to walk back when he heard a slight groan.

"Kurosaki… what are you doing?" The white-haired boy asked still dazed from the beating he had just taken.

"Well… I uh, forgot to give you your bag back and was just trying to return it and then I found you unconscious over there." Ichigo pointed back over where they had just been moments ago.

"Put me down. I'm fine; I just got jumped by some thugs is all."

"You're obviously not fine, Toshirou! Why won't you just let me help you?" Ichigo pleaded. Toshirou started to struggle against Ichigo's grip. He didn't need anyone else's help before and he sure didn't need it now. Besides, he couldn't risk getting close the carrot top, then he would be pulled into the mess that was Toshirou's life. _It's better this way._ Toshirou finally managed to get out of Ichigo's grasp by delivering a quick punch to his chest and the second Ichigo relinquished his grip Toshirou was already running and in no time at all he was gone; leaving a confused and hurt Ichigo behind to wonder what he had done wrong.

Ichigo couldn't believe what had just happened. Why was Toshirou so reluctant to get close to anyone? _There something going on around here and I'm going to find out what.

* * *

_

**A/N: Pleasseee Review! Comon, you know you want to! :D Been working on finishing this all night. *phew* Hope you all enjoyed it and now time for bed!**


	4. It's A Long Story

**A/N: Wow! I can't believe all the reviews and support I've been getting for this story, so thankies to everyone whose been reading and reviewing, you guys are the best! *Hugs!*So anyway, just a quick thing I wanted to clear up from last chapter, StrawberryShortStack-Chan pointed out that Ichigo's phone was broken and so that it was weird that he used it as an alarm the next morning, but I just wanted to clear any confusion on the subject and say that when Ichigo's phone broke, Ichigo borrowed Isshin's phone. ^^ **

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. *sigh* It's sad, but true.**  
**

* * *

Chapter 3- It's a Long Story…

No matter how long Ichigo thought about it he just couldn't figure it out. What exactly was going on with Toshirou? It was clear that just asking the boy was completely out of the question, but how else would he find out the truth? It wasn't like he could ask the boy's friends… Ichigo wasn't even sure he had any. During the entire time that Ichigo was with Toshirou the other day, not one person talked or even looked in his direction. It was like there was some-sort of invisible force field surrounding the small boy that caused everyone around him to avoid him, but somehow, someway, Ichigo had been able to penetrate it and get a rare glimpse of the genuine article that was Toshirou Hitsugaya.

Suddenly there was a loud knocking from the other side of Ichigo's bedroom door and Ichigo welcomed the unexpected interruption. Perhaps, it was just the thing the strawberry needed to take his mind off the troubling predicament he was currently facing.

"Big brother! Are you still in your room? You've been in there for hours… is everything okay?"

_Yuzu is worried again._ Ichigo sighed, his sister had been worried a lot lately and he was the reason; the strawberry couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"I'm fine, Yuzu. I just had a long first day of school and was up here taking a quick nap and thinking about a few things. No need to worry, I'll be down in a few minutes." Ichigo lied. Well… it wasn't really a lie, just a very general recap of his day. Ichigo finally managed to get himself into a sitting position and peeled his body off his bed before striding over to and out the door in the direction of the family room.

Ichigo was glad that he had decided to spend some time with this family instead of choosing to brood the night away in his dark and lonely room. The whole Kurosaki family had gathered together and decided to spend the night enjoying each other's company. They watched a movie and then Yuzu even convinced everyone to play a friendly game of Pictionary. It had been boys vs. girls and the team of Yuzu and Karin had thoroughly trounced the Kurosaki males. Not only was Isshin an awful artist, but Ichigo was also a horrible guesser and together they probably made the worst team ever in the history of Pictionary. The crushing defeat aside, Ichigo easily found himself having more fun than he had had in a long time. Though, as much as he laughed and as much as he enjoyed spending time with his family, the strawberry couldn't help but shake the feeling that something... something very important was missing.

* * *

Ichigo couldn't wait to get to school the next morning. He never thought that he would be one of those people that were excited for something like school, but nevertheless, here he was running like a maniac through town just so that he could get to school early. When the school started to come into view it only egged the orange-haired teenager on more and he started to run even faster than he had been before. Ichigo was in an all out sprint by the time he reached the large front doors and almost collapsed inside when he had finally slowed down to a brisk walk.

Ichigo weaved his way in and out of the crowds that were steadily growing and starting to cause some hallways to become very congested. Ichigo finally remembered where Toshirou's locker was and had hoped to meet the boy there so that they could walk to Ukitake's class together but the boy was nowhere to be seen, _maybe he's already in class… he would do that, right?_ It was just a few seconds later that Ichigo realized he couldn't quite remember where Ukitake's classroom was. He had been led there yesterday morning by one of the secretaries in the main office before he had been given the grand tour of the school by an irritated Toshirou. _Crap! What am I gonna do now? Go back to the main office…? I guess that's really my only option right now, but it's going to take up a lot of time that I really don't wanna waste._

Ichigo was instantly pulled from his thoughts when all of a sudden he found himself thrown to the floor and when he tried to get up he felt a large weight pinning his body to the ground. Ichigo turned his head just enough so that he was able to see a mass of strawberry blonde hair above him. "Hey." Ichigo muttered while attempting to catch the attention of the person currently sitting on him. "Hey!" Ichigo shouted when said woman still hadn't gotten off of him.

"Huh?" The strawberry blond muttered as she looked around for the source of the noise, when she finally saw Ichigo she gasped. "Oh, you're the new kid, uh… Ichigo, right?"

"Yea." Ichigo groaned. Was this girl ever going to realize that she was flattening him like pancake?

When the strawberry blonde heard the groan from under her she instantly jumped up, apologizing as she helped the strawberry stand. "Hi! My name is Rangiku Matsumoto, pleased to meet you!" The girl exclaimed as she shook one of Ichigo's hands vigorously with both of hers. "Sorry again! I was in a rush to get to class and wasn't really watching where I was going…"

"It's okay, really." Ichigo replied, dusting himself off. "Oh hey, aren't you in Ukitake-sensei's first period math class?"

Rangiku looked up the second she heard the strawberry mention the white haired teacher. "Yeap! That's actually exactly where I was just on my way to." There was a short pause, in which to two teenagers stood still in the middle of the hallway and then, all of a sudden gears started working and everything clicked into place within the strawberry's blonde's head. "Oh, hey! You're in my class aren't you? I don't why it took me so long to realize it! Wanna walk to class together?" Rangiku giggled as she ran off in the direction of their classroom.

"Rangiku! Wait up!" Ichigo yelled after her, but she had already turned into another hallway and Ichigo not wanting to lose his guide to his classroom took off right behind her.

Ichigo finally caught up to Rangiku after what felt like endless minutes of her criss-crossing through the halls before finally arriving at the familiar door with a small sign to the left of it with the numbers _230_ displayed in thick block letters.

"Well here we are!" Rangiku squealed as she darted into the room without another thought.

Ichigo followed the energetic blonde into the classroom and when he looked around the strawberry realized that apart from Rangiku and himself; the room was completely deserted. Ukitake had obviously been in at one point because Ichigo could see the man's jacket draped over the back of his chair and there was a rather large stack of papers on his desk as well.

Ichigo had been hoping Toshirou would be at school today. I mean, it _had been_ a big part of the reason that Ichigo had gotten to school so early… _not the whole reason though_, Ichigo thought as he walked over to where Rangiku was sitting, her mood significantly less chipper now that her little white-haired friend wasn't there.

* * *

"_Hey, dad?" Ichigo asked as a commercial finally came on. Yuzu and Karin had gone to bed about an hour ago and so the two Kurosaki males had opted for some father-son bonding time before bed._

"_What's up, son?" Isshin asked. He was pretty sure that what was coming had something to do with his son's mysterious adventure the day they moved in. Isshin wasn't about to force his son to tell him what had happened though. That was Ichigo's business and his son could take care of himself; he was a Kurosaki after all._

"_Well… see, there's this boy at school," Ichigo sighed and decided to tell his dad everything… well, almost everything. "It seems like he has a lot of problems at home and people are always picking on him and I just don't get it. He showed me around school today, and we spent a lot of time together. He seems like a really nice kid, but no matter what I do it's like he's purposely trying to avoid getting close to people." _

"_Ichigo you do realize that just because your friends are really important to you, you can't force people to make friends if they don't want to. There are a lot of people out there in the world that prefer to be on their own and that's just the way they are." _

"_I know, but it seems like he's mixed up into something much bigger than just not wanting to have friends… I want to help him, I just don't know how. The only thing I know about the kid is his name, the fact that he's really smart, like genius level smart, and that he spends a lot of his time in the old abandoned district near the high school."_

_Isshin took moment to think deeply while stroking his beard, taking in everything that his son had just told him before he finally decided to give his son an answer. "Have you ever actually considered just asking this boy instead of jumping to conclusions?"_

"_For a whole two seconds…" Ichigo replied, a slight bit of irritation evident in his voice. "If you met him you would easily realize that he isn't the kind of guy who would ever consider telling anyone about his situation, let alone a guy that he just met."_

"_Hmm... you just can't seem to stay out of trouble can you, son?" Isshin joked and Ichigo just scowled._

"_You're not helping, old man." Ichigo grunted._

"_Lighten up, son. Everyone needs to learn to how to laugh at themselves sometimes." _

"_This is serious, dad!" Ichigo shouted exasperated at his dad's apparent lack of focus on the current issue. _

"_Fine, fine…" Isshin said, a serious frown back on his face, "Okay, so are you absolutely positive that this boy has no friends... at all? Or even anyone he even remotely talks to?"_

_Now that Isshin had mentioned it, Ichigo tried thinking back to earlier that day when Ukitake-sensei had been introducing him to the class. The strawberry could only slightly recall that right as he had entered the room a tall girl… with large breasts and long, wavy, strawberry blonde hair…yea, definitely a distinctive strawberry blonde …she had looked like she had just been talking to Toshiro and Ichigo was willing to bet anything that he had been talking back."There… there was a girl. I don't know her name, but I could easily recognize her if I saw her again." Ichigo muttered as he locked eyes with his father._

"_Well son, if you're really that determined to help this boy; I'd say that your best chance would be to try and talk to the girl you mentioned and see if she knows anything. Just be careful, even if she does happen to know anything there's no guarantee she will tell you anything."

* * *

_

"Ichigo? Ichigooo…?" Rangiku whispered as she poked Ichigo in the side with the tip of her pencil.

"What?" Ichigo hissed as he looked next to him where Rangiku was sitting.

"Ukitake-sensei asked you a question." Rangiku whispered back. Suddenly Ichigo shot up and looked to the front of the class where Ukitake was patiently awaiting the strawberry's answer.

"I'm sorry Ukitake-sensei, could you repeat the question?" Ichigo mumbled just loud enough so that Ukitake could hear him.

"Of course Ichigo," Ukitake turned to face the board and pointed to an equation that he had written on the board a few minutes ago. "In this equation, what would the value of x be?"

Ichigo stared at the equation on the board and it only took about five seconds to realize that he had absolutely no clue how to even start to solve the problem. _This is what I get for never really going to any of my classes at my old school…_ "I'm sorry Ukitake-sensei, I don't know."

The man simply nodded before asking the rest of the class if anyone else knew the answer that could help out Ichigo. One of the girls raised her hand, gave the right answer and then the class moved on.

"Hey, Rangiku…?" Ichigo whispered as he tried to get the attention of the girl sitting next to him who had been doodling absentmindedly in her notebook as opposed to actually paying attention to the lesson.

"Mhmm…?" Rangiku grunted sleepily, showing Ichigo that she was listening.

"Do you know where Toshirou is?" Ichigo asked quietly. It was something that had been bothering him ever since he had walked into the classroom that morning and not found the young boy at his desk in the very back of the class like he had been yesterday. On normal circumstances, it probably wouldn't have bothered Ichigo so much; apart for the fact that the boy was really starting to grow on him despite the cold shoulder he gave everyone. But, just yesterday Ichigo had found Toshirou beaten and unconscious in some random alleyway, the strawberry had really just wanted to see the white-haired boy to make sure that he was okay, but now the desk next to him was vacant and that just couldn't have been a coincidence could it?

"Honestly, I don't know." Rangiku answered back. "He has a tendency to disappear for a day or two every few weeks or so. There was even this one time when he didn't come to school for an entire month, and then one day he was back like it had never happened."

"An _entire_ month?" Ichigo gasped, "What the hell could have happened to keep him from coming to school for an entire month?"

"I have no idea…" Rangiku said as she shook her head dejectedly, "He doesn't like to talk about it and anytime I even mention it he yells at me to 'drop it' and then runs off. So I've learned that it's just easier not to bring it up in the first place.

"Well, you obviously have to know something… you're the only person it seems in this entire school that will even talk to him." Ichigo said in a serious tone.

"You spent a lot of time with him yesterday." Rangiku smiled.

"Well yea…" Ichigo couldn't help but blush slightly, "That was only because Ukitake told him to show me around the school for the rest of the day and act as somewhat of a guide."

"He could have said no, or just kept walking…" Rangiku grinned again. "How did your day with Toshirou go anyway? I was planning on asking him about it this morning, but then he didn't show up."

"I had fun, but I don't know about Toshirou… he barely said anything at all, so I don't know really."

Rangiku laughed loud enough so that a few people in the class to turn around to look at the pair with confused looks on their faces before shrugging their shoulders and turning their attention back towards Ukitake. "The fact that he didn't ditch you the second he could, makes me think he was actually enjoying himself; which is really pretty rare for him." The blonde giggled.

Ichigo jumped at the opportunity to try and get a little more information from Rangiku about Toshirou. "Why is that?"Rangiku looked away silently, suddenly finding the window next to her very interesting. Ichigo wasn't sure if she was going to say anything but then she muttered something so quietly that if Ichigo hadn't been sitting a seat away he wouldn't have been able to hear her, "It's …complicated."

"How so?"

"It's a long story… and I don't know if I'm even the best person to ask about it."

"Okay… well, who would you suggest I talk to then? His parents?"

"Umm…" Rangiku hesitated, "That would be kind of hard… considering his parent's are dead…"

"What!" Ichigo involuntarily shouted which caused the entire class to turn and stare at him.

"Is there something the matter, Ichigo?" Ukitake questioned.

"No. Sorry about the interruption, Ukitake-sensei… I'm fine, really." He insisted when Ukitake sent a questioning look his way.

"Okay." Ukitake then faced the rest of the class and started to wrap up the lesson. "I want everyone to keep in mind that finals are next week…" Ichigo tuned out Ukitake's voice as he turned back to Rangiku.

"What happened to his parents?"

Silence.

"You know don't you? Why won't you tell me?" Ichigo had finally thought he was getting somewhere, but now the strawberry blond seemed adamant not to give out anymore information about her young white-haired friend than she already had.

Thankfully, for Rangiku at least, the school bell decided to ring and before Rangiku rushed out of the room she whispered, "It's a really long story that I wouldn't even know where to start, but if you're really serious about wanting to know then I suggest you talk to Ukitake-sensei."

"Ukitake…?" Ichigo muttered to himself, "What does he have to do with anything?" Ichigo looked up expecting to see Rangiku, but she was already gone. Ichigo just sat at his desk for a second wondering what Ukitake-sensei had to do with anything.

* * *

Rangiku and Ichigo were not the only people to notice the young genius's absence. One more person noticed, one particular white haired teacher to be precise; and the boy's absence troubled him greatly. He was almost positive of the reason why Toshirou had chosen not to come to school today. _Oh dear shirou-chan… what in the world are we going to do with you? _

"Um, Ukitake-sensei…?" Ukitake looked up from the papers he had been attempting to grade and saw Ichigo Kurosaki standing right in front of his desk with an uneasy look on his face.

"Ahhh, Ichigo-kun!" Ukitake said cheerfully. "You know, you might want to start heading to your next class or you are going to be late."

"I don't care." Ichigo shrugged, "There's something really important that I need to talk to you about."

Ukitake frowned, he had seen the orange-haired teenager talking with Rangiku throughout the entire duration of his lesson and he had a pretty good idea what the 'something really important' was that Ichigo wanted to talk about. Before Ichigo even had the chance to open his mouth again, Ukitake put his hand up, "I know what you are going to ask me about Ichigo, but now is not the time. You need to get to your next class and I have a meeting that I need to be at in about ten minutes. Before you say anything, you need to know that what you want to know, I couldn't even begin to tell you in under a mere ten minutes."

"But-" Ichigo protested.

"No, Ichigo. Not right now." Ukitake opened a drawer in his desk and withdrew a small notepad on which he started to scribble a short note:

_To whom it may concern:_

_Please admit Ichigo Kurosaki to class without  
penalty. I had a few things I needed to discuss  
with him after class, which caused his tardiness._

_Sincerely,_

_Jushiro Ukitake_

"I promise we _will_ talk about this Ichigo, just now is not the time. Stop by my classroom after school and I will tell you everything I know." Ukitake handed Ichigo the note and Ichigo took that as his cue to leave.

* * *

Ichigo spent the entire rest of the day debating whether or not he should ditch school and go out looking for Toshirou. He could always sneak out during lunch, then slip back into the building at the end of the day and still have time to meet with Ukitake… but what was the chance he would actually be able to find Toshirou?

The next time the strawberry had seen Rangiku he had asked her opinion and although she was admittedly, a little worried as well, she eventually convinced Ichigo to wait and hear what Ukitake had to say before jumping to any conclusions as to the reasons for the white-haired boy's absence.

Ichigo thought it would never come, but after what seemed like the longest day of his life, the day was finally almost over and any minute now the dismissal bell would ring releasing all the students from the building. Ichigo simply stared at the clock for the last remaining minutes of the day; willing them to move by faster, but no matter how hard he stared, the seconds ticked by at the same pace they always did and at one point even seemed to slow down as if just to taunt the anxious teenager. Ichigo let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding when he finally heard the bell ring and he was out the door in a flash, already determined to get to Ukitake's classroom as fast as possible.

Ichigo reached Ukitake's room faster than he had ever thought possible and was starting to get really excited and anxious at the same time. _I'm finally going to figure out what's going on with Toshirou and then I can start to figure out some way to help him._ Ichigo was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't realize Ukitake's door wasn't open and ran smack right into it before stumbling backwards, slightly dazed from the sudden and unexpected impact. A few students that had been walking down the hall had seen Ichigo walk straight into the door and a few people giggled, one girl snorted and one girl practically doubled over in silent laugher.

"Yea, verrry funny…" Ichigo muttered, although judging by the fact that the girls continued laughing, he was pretty sure that they hadn't heard him.

Ichigo couldn't believe it; Ukitake had told him to meet him right at this exact spot right after school. So where was the man? "Ukitake-sensei!" Ichigo yelled as he hammered on the classroom door. "Ukitake!" He yelled again.

"Well, aren't we the eager one today?" A calm (and slightly amused) voice said from right behind Ichigo. Ichigo immediately turned around to face the man he had just been yelling for.

"U-Ukitake-sensei…" Ichigo stuttered. He could feel his face heating up as he continued to stare at the man in front of him.

"I apologize for startling you Ichigo-kun; I ran into Shun… er, Kyouraku-sensei and to be honest I wasn't expecting you to get here so early." Ukitake unlocked the door and both males walked inside. Ukitake took a vacant seat at the front of the classroom and Ichigo quickly followed by taking a seat right next the elder white-haired male.

Ichigo couldn't take the silence anymore; he was tired of being in the dark. "So…"

"You're sure you want to hear this…?"

"Yes. I can't stand not knowing. Tell me, please…"

Ukitake sighed; he hoped that Toshirou wouldn't be too mad at him for telling Ichigo. I mean, Ichigo seemed like he genuinely cared about and wanted to help Toshirou. Ichigo had waited long enough and after a moment of debating where to begin, Ukitake decided to start at the very beginning. "Well it all started back when Toshirou's parent's met in high school. Coincidentally enough Toshirou's father, Takeda Hitsugaya, and I were very good friends and when Toshirou's mother, Michiyo Kuroda moved into town we both fell head over heels in love; but of course Toshirou's father being the lady's man that he was, easily charmed the lovely Michiyo and they both fell madly in love with each other."

"Well this isn't turning out nearly as bad as I was expecting…" Ichigo muttered to himself, which he didn't intend to be heard by Ukitake, but the taller male caught the comment regardless.

"Oh my dear boy, you haven't heard anything yet." Ukitake chuckled slightly before continuing where he had left off. "Like I was saying, Toshirou's parents were madly in love and their lives seemed perfect… until one night when the couple decided to go out drinking with some of Takeda's friends to celebrate surviving their finals. They spent the night partying like crazy at a local bar and while Takeda's friends got totally smashed, Takeda and Michiyo decided that they would only get slightly buzzed so that they could help their friends get back home safely. The group set off and decided to take a short cut through downtown, but while they were walking through an alley, a group of guys walked up to them and started hitting on Michiyo. Of course, Takeda didn't take well to that and beat all the thugs senseless." Ukitake sighed, he wasn't looking forward to telling Ichigo what had happened next; but he had already started the story and so he had to finish it now.

Ichigo noticed the long pause, raising his eyebrows in apprehension. "Then what happened?"

Ukitake took a moment to collect himself then continued his tale. "Takeda didn't know it at the time, but the guys he had beaten up had all been members of one of the most feared gangs in the area. The gang never left poor Takeda alone after that night. They were constantly trying to recruit him to join their ranks and he refused them every single time until… they threatened to kidnap Michiyo. Takeda couldn't bear the thought of what those brutes might do if they managed to get their hands on his precious Michiyo."

Although Ichigo was thankful for what Ukitake was telling him, he was anxious to see how Toshirou fit into everything; apart from the fact that he was their son. "What does all this have to do with Toshirou and his current situation, Ukitake?"

"Please be patient Ichigo-kun; you said you wanted to know everything and that is simply what I am telling you. If you could be patient for a little longer I assure you everything will make sense."

"M'kay." Ichigo grunted.

"So where was I…? Oh right, Michiyo." Ukitake sighed for what must have been the hundredth time since he has started telling the tragic tale of the Hitsugaya's. "Takeda felt as though he had been backed into a corner and did the only thing that would guarantee his lover's safety. With much reluctance, Takeda finally decided to join the gang that he despised so much. Takeda and Michiyo somehow made it through high school and college without much interference from Takeda's gang, as long as he did as he was told they couldn't care less what he did. When both Takeda and Michiyo graduated college they got married and by that time Takeda had already tried several times to leave his gang; but then every time he was about to walk out the door they would take advantage of his one weakness and threaten to take Michiyo as payment for leaving. The years went by and eventually Michiyo got pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy with snow white hair and absolutely stunning teal green eyes, which they named, you guessed it, Toshirou Hitsugaya."

"So what happened next?" Ichigo asked curiously. So far it hadn't seemed so bad and that gave Ichigo a nagging feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

"…"

"Ukitake-sensei? Are you okay?' Ichigo asked, concerned.

Ukitake shook his head and then took a deep breath. "…yes. I'm fine." Another deep breath, "Takeda tried desperately to keep the fact that he had a son secret, but no matter how hard he tried, some way or another the gang ultimately figured it out. As punishment, they locked him up and while he was incapacitated they kidnapped both Michiyo and Toshirou. Somehow, Michiyo was able to escape with Toshirou and I remember them showing up at my doorstep like it was yesterday. Michiyo was terribly injured, but she was determined to go back and help her husband. However, she wasn't willing to risk Toshirou's safety so she asked me to take him to his grandmother that lived on the outskirts of town. She said that once she rescued Takeda they would rendezvous at her grandmother's house and hide out there for awhile until everything died down. I did as I was told and took Toshirou to his grandmother's, but after that night I never saw either Michiyo or Takeda ever again." At this point Ukitake looked like he wanted to cry, but somehow was able to keep himself together for Ichigo's sake.

"Okay… so what happened to Toshirou's grandmother? Why isn't he still living with her?" Ichigo was thoroughly confused, if Toshirou had a living relative why didn't he just live with her?

"Eventually, Toshirou grew up and when he asked what happened to his parents, his grandmother thought he had a right to know and ended up telling him everything. He was shocked at first, but eventually came to accept it. However, one night a man broke into the house and attacked Toshirou's grandmother; Toshirou was able to drive off the attacker and took care of his injured grandmother until she was fully healed, but the second she was he ran away. He left a note telling her that he had suspicions that the man had been after him because of who his parents were and thanked her for taking care of him after his parents passed. He explained how he didn't want to risk anyone else coming after him and her getting hurt because of it. Toshirou ended up coming back to this part of town and that's when I met him and introduced myself. I offered to have him stay with me, but he refused and told me he would manage on his own. Unfortunately, now he has reduced himself to living alone in old town and taking residence in an abandoned building that he found, all the while running from the thugs that have been after him ever since they learned of his existence… and that Ichigo, is as complete as a story as I can give you. The only way you are ever going to truly understand Toshirou's situation would be to ask him yourself."

Ichigo nodded. "Thanks, Ukitake-sensei; I really appreciate you taking some time to explain what you could to me." Ichigo stood up and started to head for the door but not before muttering to himself, "I know I don't know the entire story… but I do know enough to know that I _will_ help Toshirou get out of this mess no matter what." With that, Ichigo left the classroom, leaving a smiling Ukitake behind in his wake.

* * *

**A/N:You guys know what to do! Reviewwww! Your reviews are really what inspires me to keep writing and I love reading them! Keep um coming! :D  
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	5. Lost and Found

**A/N: Wow... I've been so swamped with classes and homework and studying all week I'm actually surprised that I still managed to find enough time to get this all typed up and edited! It's a little shorter than usual, but still a respectable length I feel. Thanks as always, to my amazing reviewers! I love you all. :D And without further ado, please enjoy the chapter!  
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Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach... the spectacular Tite Kubo does. :)**  
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* * *

Chapter 4- Lost and Found

The next day of school came and went, and there was still no sign of Toshirou. It was like the boy had just dropped off the face of the planet… and the worst part about it in Ichigo's eyes was that no-one even noticed or seemed to care; apart from Rangiku and Ukitake of course.

Ichigo had decided that waiting a whole other day for the white-haired teenager to return was long enough. If Toshirou didn't show up to school by the end of the day today, the strawberry was going to go out and look for him and neither Rangiku nor Ukitake would be able to stop him. _Being absent from school for one day is understandable, but when one day turns into three… there just has to be something going on._

Ichigo poked the strawberry blond girl he had been hanging out with the past few days while Toshirou had been MIA. She let out a high pitched squeak that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the class, but they had gotten used to the strange sounds coming from the back room lately and not even a single person turned their head to acknowledge the pair.

"Don't poke me like that, Ichigo! I'm ticklish!" Rangiku whined as she looked over at where the strawberry was currently sitting.

"I needed your attention and well, I got it didn't I?" Ichigo muttered, trying to keep his voice low.

"What's up?" Rangiku asked curiously.

"I'm really worried about Toshirou." Ichigo sighed.

"I am too, but there's nothing we can do about it unfortunately."

"What do you mean there's nothing we can do…? We can go look for him after school!" Ichigo attempted to not shout, with little success.

"I really wish I could, Ichigo…"

"But?"

"But…" Rangiku sighed, "I'm sorry Ichigo, I can't. I have an… uhm… previous engagement that I have to go to right after school. If you want I can ask Ukitake-sensei to go with you."

"No, no, it's fine. We don't need to involve Ukitake. He's already got more than enough on his plate to worry about without having to worry about where Toshirou is."

"Regardless of whether you tell him your going or not, Ukitake is still going to be concerned. It's just the kind of guy he is." Rangiku added. Before Rangiku had time to say anything else Ukitake's voice rang throughout the room.

"Could I have everyone's undivided attention for just a moment, please? Before the bell rings in a few minutes to dismiss everyone to their next class, I wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow will be our last day of class before Winter Break and finals are going to be held all throughout next week. I strongly urge everyone to take advantage of the study guides I passed out in class at the beginning of the week and remember that you must complete the _entire_ packet to receive the extra credit on exam day."

_Crap!_ _I've been concentrating so much on trying to figure out what's going on and where Toshirou is, I totally forgot all about finals! _Ichigo thought for a moment, trying to think of how he could possibly slip in some study time during the day… _I almost forgot!_ Ichigo thought while mentally slapping himself. _Toshirou's a genius, I'm sure I could convince him to help me…_ Ichigo wasn't able to think anymore on the subject, because just then the bell decided to ring and everyone rushed out of the classroom, Ichigo eagerly sprinting to the front of the pack.

* * *

"Are you sure he's even going to show up? I mean, we _are_ going on three days now… you would think if he cared about the boy at all he would have shown up by now." A particularly built man with short blonde hair asked his partner as they sat alone, well, almost alone in the middle of a barely furnished room.

"These things take time and there's not much that we can do right now, so just chill and be patient. He _will_ come." The other man, who was very tall and slender with curly black hair answered as he took a particularly large puff from the cigar he was smoking.

"This is so boring…" The other man groaned.

"Go play with our guest if you're so bored then." The man with the curly black hair suggested as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Awn, but he's no fun when he keeps passing out…" the blonde complained again.

"Well, maybe if you didn't play so rough with him, he would stop blacking out on ya."

"That's no fun though." The blonde man groaned. The room was silent for a few minutes before said man decided to break the silence. "Is this guy even worth it? I mean what's so important about him? I've never heard of him before…"

"Are you kidding, man?" The black haired man stared at his partner in disbelief and when his partner still just shrugged he decided to fill him in. "You ever heard of a gang called the The Noches?"

"You mean that huge-ass gang in Shinkou City? That's one gang you just don't mess with… they make us look like a group of fuzzy bunnies."

"True that, man." The black haired man nodded. "Well, there's this one guy who actually had the nerve to split ties with them, but the crazy part about the whole thing is that he _actually_ managed to get away in one piece."

"Bullshit." The other man snorted, "Do you even realize what you just said, man? You can't just up and leave the The Noches! That's just the crazy talk of a dead man."

"I'm totally serious, dude. You wanna know the weirdest part?"

"Weirder than being able to escape The Noches alive?"

"Yea, get this… the guy who left for who knows what reason; moved to none other than our modest little town of Karakura."

"You gotta be shitting me." The man stared in disbelief as he knitted his eyebrows together in an attempt to wrap his mind around what the other man had just told him.

"I couldn't believe it at first, but one of the guys actually managed to snap a few pictures of the guy when he was walking past here the other day."

"Prove it. Where are the pictures?"

"One sec," The black haired man fumbled around in his pocket for a moment and finally pulled out a handful of slightly crumpled pictures. "Here." The man grunted as he shoved the pictures across the table towards the other male. The pictures weren't the best quality, but they all were pictures of one person in particular: a fairly tall and decently built teenager with unmistakable, bright, orange hair. "That's the guy… Ichigo Kurosaki."

"A kid? We are seriously going after some stupid brat?" The short man gaped as he stared at the pictures he held in his large hands.

"Don't be fooled by his appearance. According to our informant he was one of The Noches top fighters-"

Both men's attention was suddenly drawn instantly towards the other side of the room where the soft, but unmistakable sharp intake of breath had originated.

"Sneaky little bastard…" the larger man muttered under his breath as he stood up and walked over towards a small figure currently lying sprawled out in the corner of the room with disheveled, yet still distinctive, snow white hair. "So you're awake after all? Did you really think you could just trick us like that?"

"It _was_ working." The boy growled.

"Yea, until your little slip up a moment ago and now that I know you're awake we can make things interesting until your boyfriend arrives."

"He's not my boyfriend, moron." Toshirou snarled. "And leave Kurosaki out of this, he has nothing to do with it."

The man laughed a cold heartless laugh that made a chill go down Toshirou's spine. "Did you not hear anything that my buddy and I have been talking about for the past five minutes?"

"I have no interest in listening to idiots." Toshirou smirked. The small teenager realized that it probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world to say considering his current situation, but he couldn't help himself, he wasn't one to take anything lying down. Toshirou could swear that he could see the man's face distinctly tense in irritation.

"Think you're soooo smart, dontcha, you brat?" The man hissed at Toshirou as he yelled over to his partner still sitting lazily at the table. "Tell me again why we can't just kill the kid?"

"We need to keep him alive, at least until that Kurosaki character gets here. He won't be very effective bait if he's dead."

"Ughhh… what happened to the good old days where we could just kill anyone we wanted to and we didn't have to waste time with stupid intricate cat and mouse games…?"

"Man, you need to just relax. I just said you couldn't kill him; never said you couldn't rough him up a bit…" The main voiced from the table.

Toshirou immediately tried to shrink away from the two men, but the man nearest him quickly grabbed him by his hair and threw him against the nearest wall, Toshirou's petite body making a loud smacking noise as it collided with the hard surface. Toshirou gasped, and started to wheeze as all the air was knocked out of him. Toshirou struggled to get his body up into a sitting position, leaning against the wall, but then the blonde man's foot suddenly connected with his head and Toshirou's vision started to swim and head started to pound so hard, he thought it was going to explode. The last thing Toshirou saw was the two men walking towards him, arguing about something that he couldn't make out before his world was consumed by darkness.

* * *

Ichigo had thought that school would never end and was running as fast as he could down the street towards the location Ukitake had told him he had last known Toshirou to be hiding out. _You better be okay, Toshirou. _Ichigo was hoping against all hope that Toshirou had simply decided to just skip school for awhile, but every part of him was screaming otherwise. Ichigo turned a corner and found himself in a very familiar alleyway. _This is the alley where I first met Toshirou and this whole mess started! Of course this is where I would find him…_ Ichigo looked around frantically trying to find a small opening that Ukitake had told him about.

Right before Ichigo had run out of the school building he had been stopped briefly by Ukitake. Ukitake had told him that he was never going to be able to find where Toshirou was living by himself and quickly told the orange-haired teenager directions to where he had last know Toshirou to be residing. When Ukitake was satisfied that Ichigo knew where he was going the white-haired teacher set him on his way with a quick, "Be careful Ichigo, you never know what you are going to find in that part of town."

Ichigo hadn't been worried in the least, until he had actually arrived. What if he couldn't find Toshirou? Where else would Toshirou have the slightest chance of being? Ichigo was about to head back to school to tell Ukitake that Toshirou must have moved or he must have been mistaken because he couldn't find the door that Ukitake had been telling him about. Right at that very moment, a golden glow caught the corner of Ichigo's eye and the strawberry ran over to what looked like a large, single window pane and the glass had been removed and a large cloth had been draped over the frame so as to effectively hide it from any prying eyes that weren't specifically looking for it and to effectively black out the inside of the building.

Silently, Ichigo cautiously made his way towards the entrance and brushed the cloth to the side as he entered the room. The room was only half lit via a small lantern sitting on a table to Ichigo's left.

"Hello…? Toshirou…? Are you in here?" The strawberry asked as he wandered farther into the room. Ichigo walked over to and picked up the small lantern that was the only source of light and continued walking towards the part of the room originally obscured by the shadows. The orange-haired teenager just about dropped the lantern in surprise when he finally noticed what the darkness had been previously concealing.

"Toshirou!"

Ichigo was at the small white-haired boy's side in an instant; but even with the dim light given off by the lantern Ichigo couldn't tell if the smaller male was still conscious or not. It was right at that moment that Toshirou's eyes shot open, staring up in horror at the strawberry leaning over him. The normally cool and collected boy started to yell as loud as he could, but every time he spoke he started to feel extremely dizzy and his head once again began to pound painfully. Unfortunately for the two teenagers, the thugs had gagged Toshirou and tied his arms behind his back moments before Ichigo's arrival and all of Toshirou's shouting was stifled almost completely by the cloth.

_Run, Ichigo! It's all a trap! You need to get out of here before those men come back! _Toshirou thought furiously, hoping that Ichigo would someway, somehow understand. No such luck.

"Toshirou!" Ichigo shouted again, "Who did this to you?" Ichigo quickly ripped off the gag and it took almost all of Toshirou's dwindling energy to mutter an almost inaudible warning.

"K-Kurosaki… g-get out of here…" Toshirou pleaded desperately.

"Never." Ichigo smiled. "I'm not leaving without-"

"Oh, isn't that just the _most_ touching thing I've ever seen…" A sarcastic voice drawled from behind Ichigo as a rather tall man walked up towards the two teenagers.

In less than a split second, Ichigo spun around to face a man that he was sure he had never seen before in his life. _This must be Toshirou's captor… or at least one of them..._

"We've been waiting for you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he looked the mysterious man up and down. "How do you know my name?" The strawberry snarled, refusing to look away from the man for even a second. That could turn out to be a very costly mistake, for both him and Toshirou.

"How could we _not _know your name? You and your gang are stuff of legends 'round these parts." The man laughed as he started casually walking towards the orange-haired teenager who refused to relax even a single muscle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ichigo stated, trying to keep his face stoic, so as not to give away his bluff.

"Oh, I think you do, Mr. Kurosaki." The man smirked.

"Well, since you seem to know so much about me, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" Ichigo asked, attempting to shift the conversation as to discover a few things out about the man that stood before him.

"Oh, little ol' me…? You don't wanna know about me." The man laughed loud and long and when he had had his fill he snapped his fingers and then all of a sudden another man, this man in contrast to his partner was very large with muscles bulging out in every direction. "Well," the tall man continued as he stood right next to the wall of muscles that was his partner with a smug look on his face. "Not that you need to know, but you can call me Kazuhara; and this here," Kazuhara pointed to the man standing as still as a statue beside him, "This is Sano; he's my right hand man." There was a slight pause then Kazuhara spoke again before Ichigo had a chance to say anything. "But, enough with the formalities; it's about time we got down to business."

Ichigo couldn't help but let out a loud snort at this statement. "Sorry I can't play with you and your friend today, but I have some more pressing matters to attend to right now." Ichigo replied coolly as he started to turn around to see if Toshirou was still conscious.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kazuhara warned the strawberry.

"Yea, well I don't give a fuck what you would do if you were me, to be completely honest."

"I'm sorry, but we can't have you leaving quite yet, Mr. Kurosaki. After all, we went through so much trouble capturing that brat over there and using him to draw you out, we can't let you just prance out of here so soon and waste all our efforts."

"Bastards… you really don't know who you're messing with." Ichigo growled. This man, Kazuhara, was seriously getting on the strawberry's nerves; acting all high and mighty while shamelessly hiding behind his muscular partner.

Ichigo turned around kneeling down to untie Toshirou's hands before carefully helping the boy to his feet. Ichigo might not be a doctor, but it was pretty damn obvious to the strawberry that Toshirou was desperately in need of medical attention, and soon. Toshirou could barely support himself and was relying heavily on Ichigo to keep himself standing upright and Ichigo was beginning to get even more worried that Toshirou might collapse at any second. "Come on Toshirou, let's get out of here and get those injuries of yours looked at." The carrot-top whispered into the smaller male's ear.

Toshirou nodded weakly, too exhausted to do anything else.

Ichigo started to make his way towards where he had originally entered, all the while practically dragging Toshirou along with him. Ichigo had just been about to offer to carry the young genius when he found his way blocked by none other than Sano.

"Move." Ichigo growled.

"I thought I told you, Mr. Kurosaki… I can't allow you to leave." Kazuhara stated as he leisurely walked over towards where the three men were standing already.

"And I thought I told _you_… I don't give a fuck what you have to say." Ichigo replied coldly.

Kazuhara sighed, "I guess we are just going to have to do things the hard way then…" the tall man snapped his fingers twice and pointed towards the two teenagers standing in front of him. All of a sudden Sano launched himself towards Ichigo and before Ichigo knew what had happened he felt his body flying through the air before colliding painfully with the small table that had originally held the lantern. "Okay, now Mr. Kurosaki, I will tell you this one time… I don't like repeating myself. You _are_ coming with us, or we'll kill your little friend here.

_Toshirou!_ Ichigo stared horrified when he realized that Kazuhara was roughly holding a semi-conscious Toshirou and had the edge of a blunt knife pressed against the boy's pale and exposed neck. Ichigo had to think fast. _How in the world am I supposed to get Toshirou and myself out of this alive…?_ Ichigo was just about to take his chance with the human boulder in front of him when he was struck with a sudden idea. _It's a long shot, but its best I can come up with Toshirou's life on the line._

"Okay, Kazuhara, you win. Release Toshirou and I'll come with you quietly." Ichigo said calmly as he slowly got from where he had crashed into the table, but not before being careful to put away a rather large piece of the table's shrapnel securely, but inconspicuously against the waistband in his pants.

The tall black haired man merely grinned as he carefully watched Ichigo walk over towards him. "Glad you are finally starting to see things our way, Mr. Kurosaki."

Ichigo was face to face with Kazuhara in no time. "Now… let go of Toshirou."

"If you say so," Kazuhara smirked as he released his hold on the small white-haired boy and pocketed the knife he had been brandishing. With Kazuhara's grip no longer supporting him; Toshirou fell helplessly towards the ground before finding himself securely in Ichigo's embrace.

"Bear with me for just a little longer, Toshirou." Ichigo muttered so quietly that Kazuhara, who was mere feet from the strawberry couldn't even hear what Ichigo had said. Ichigo gently laid Toshirou on the floor and stood up to face Kazuhara. "Shall we?" Ichigo said as he motioned towards the exit in front of them. Both men nodded and all three started to head for the door, Sano exited first and right before Kazuhara followed, Ichigo quickly grabbed the tall man from behind and placed his hand over the man's mouth so he could not yell for his partner.

In less than a second, Ichigo pulled the large, sharp, piece of wood he had hiding and shoved it as hard as he possibly could into the man's side. Kazuhara screamed in both surprise and pain, but his cry was muffled significantly by Ichigo's hand. Ichigo dropped the man instantly and ran back to where Toshirou was lying.

_Dammit, he's totally out of it._ Ichigo thought as he noticed that Toshirou had lost consciousness again and knew he had to no time to waste. The strawberry took one last look at the black haired male lying still on the floor before cradling Toshirou in his arms, adjusting the boy slightly as to not irritate any of his injuries. Toshirou moaned softly as Ichigo lifted him, but other than that the young white-haired boy stayed still and silent. Ichigo poked his head outside and when he finally spotted Sano he silently slipped out of the building making sure that the large blonde haired man didn't see him or Toshirou until the last possible second. When Sano did eventually notice Ichigo, it was too late and Ichigo was already at the other end of the alleyway and even though Sano did not pursue the two teenagers Ichigo ran off as fast as he possibly could towards the Kurosaki residence desperately hoping that it was not too late.

* * *

**A/N: The first cliffhanger of the story! Dun dun dunnnnnn! Hey... I gotta throw you guys a few! ^^ Please Review as always! I really appreciate them so much! So, till chapter 5... goodnight! :D**


	6. You're Safe Now

**A/N: Hello everybody! Welcome to the next installment of Hidden Truths. What to say about this chapter? Hmm... well funny thing is that I had the majority of this chapter written in like two days, but then real life intervened and made sure that for the next few days I had no time at all to work on this chapter... *sigh* The ending really did not want to get written, but I think it turned out pretty well. Oh, and before I forget, THANK YOU to every single one of my reviewers! Thanks so much for the support, It's really appreciated! Now I'm going to shut up and let you readers get to the whole reason your here! Thanks again and I hope you guys like!**

Disclaimer: I wish they were mine, but Toshiro, Ichigo and everything else Bleach belong to Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter 5- You're Safe Now

Isshin Kurosaki had had a fairly uneventful day so far; all of the Kurosaki siblings had gone to school so he had the house all to himself. Karin was staying late because of soccer practice and Yuzu had gone over to one of her new friend's house to study. Karin was supposed to call Yuzu when she was done with soccer practice and then they were going to get together and go to dinner at one of the local diners with Yuzu's new friend and a few of the members of Karin's soccer team. Isshin honestly had no idea what kind of trouble his idiotic son was up to, but that was something that he had gotten accustomed to and so it didn't bother him all that much. Isshin was almost positive that he was going to have the house all to himself for the rest of the evening and he couldn't say that he was all that disappointed.

Isshin wandered into the kitchen and was rummaging around the cupboards trying to find something quick and easy he could make himself for dinner. He finally found a package of Ramen Noodles and after another few moments of rummaging around in the kitchen, he finally pulled out a small cooking pot and filled it with water, setting it on the oven to boil and retreating back towards the living room. Isshin was just about to sit down and turn the TV on to see what was on tonight when the phone began to ring. Isshin picked up the handheld device from the end table next to the couch and raised it up by his ear.

"Hello, Kurosaki Residence, Isshin speaking."

"Hey, Dad."

"Oh, Karin! I thought you were in the middle of soccer practice? What are you doing calling your dear old dad?"

A huge sigh was heard on the other line before Karin decided to get the point of the real reason why she had called. "Well anyway, I was just calling because Soccer practice got rained out. We tried playing through it, but it started to get pretty bad so we just decided to go over to Yuzu's friend's house and now it's starting to get really bad so would it be cool if we just spend the night here?"

"Of course, my darling daughter! You girls have fun."

"Thanks, dad!" A voice sounded from the background which Isshin knew instantly belonged to his younger daughter, Yuzu.

"Yea, thanks dad." Karin agreed. "See ya tomorrow."

Isshin hung up the phone and decided to go back to the kitchen, but frowned when he realized that the noodles had just barely started to boil. Isshin was on his way back to the family room when he heard the front door crash open suddenly.

Out of all the reasons Isshin thought his son would be bursting through his front door, the very last thing he thought he would see was his son soaked to the bone, clutching another, much younger looking boy with snow white hair to his chest. The white-haired male was also soaked, not to mention it seemed like he was fast asleep in his son's arms, albeit the fact that the boy was shivering slightly, yet still showed no signs of waking up.

"Dad!" Ichigo yelled, when he finally looked in Isshin's direction. "I need your help! I don't know what to do…! He won't wake up and I...I…"

Isshin quickly ran over to the pair, placing a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "Ichigo, you need to calm down. Okay?" Ichigo nodded and then Isshin continued, "First, I need to know what in the world is going on… who is this?" Isshin nodded in Toshirou's direction. "…and what in the world happened to him?"

"It's complicated…" Ichigo frowned. "Please, tell me there is something we can do to help him… I promise that I'll tell you everything after he's been taken care of." Isshin was about to insist Ichigo tell him, but then the elder Kurosaki noticed how weak the boy in his son's arms was. His face was a very pale color and from what Isshin could see, his body was covered in numerous nasty looking bruises.

Isshin nodded. "Okay, take him to the family room and lay him down on the recliner."

Ichigo did as he was told and when he had laid Toshirou down, who was still trembling slightly, the strawberry turned around looking hopefully in his dad's direction. Isshin had volunteered at a clinic back in Shinkou, so he just so happened to have a decent amount of medical experience. Ichigo had thought about taking Toshirou to the local hospital, but when he was no-where near there and it started raining the carrot-top decided that it would probably be smarter to take Toshirou to his house instead.

"Okay, Ichigo. Now, before the boy lost consciousness, what were his symptoms?" Isshin asked calmly. He knew that if he didn't stay completely calm then there's no way that Ichigo would stay calm enough to help his friend.

"Well…" Ichigo started as he began to remember how Toshirou had been acting right before he blacked out. Ichigo also reluctantly told his dad about how he had found Toshirou and after they escaped the thugs, Toshirou passed out again and Ichigo wasn't able to rouse him. He even told his dad about how they had gotten caught in the sudden rainstorm. "He hadn't moved at all since we left, but after a few minutes of running through the rain he started to shake. "I tried to hold him closer to my chest attempting to share body heat with him, but he hasn't shown any signs of getting any better till just now."

Isshin listened intently to his son's story and then took the time to think about all the symptoms that Ichigo had just described. "Hmmm… if what you say is really true, then I think there's a chance that your friend-"

"Toshirou." Ichigo interjected.

"Okay, Toshirou. Well like I was saying, if what you're telling me is true, then I think it's likely that Toshirou here probably has a mild case of dehydration. It's also critical that we get him into some dry clothes and get him warmed up or he might also develop a slight case of hypothermia, if he hasn't already." Before Isshin even finished, Ichigo had disappeared from the room. Most likely running to his room to get some clothes that Toshirou could borrow while also getting into some dry clothes himself.

Through all the excitement, Isshin had completely forgotten about his dinner and ran towards the kitchen hoping to salvage what he could.

"Dad?" Ichigo called as he descended the stairs, a towel draped around his shoulders and a stack of neatly folded clothes in his hands.

"I'm in the kitchen." Isshin called back as he finished pouring his noodles into a bowl and walked out into the family room where Ichigo was standing. "Here." Isshin said, as he offered his son the steaming bowl. "You need it more than I do."

"What about Toshirou?" Ichigo hesitated as he took the bowl.

"Don't worry Ichigo. I'll be sure to make him something when he wakes up. Right now, we need to concentrate on getting him more comfortable." Ichigo nodded as he put down the bowl he had been holding on a nearby table and started to walk towards where Toshirou was still sleeping. He had been fully intent on helping his father, but Isshin held up a hand in protest. "Ichigo, you need to sit down and eat; I'll do what I can for him."

"Fine." Ichigo muttered as he sat back down and began to eat his soup, refusing to take his eyes off Toshirou for more than a few seconds.

Isshin placed his hand lightly on the small boy's forehead; frowning when he felt how cold it was. Isshin quickly undressed him and then redressed him in the dry clothes that Ichigo had brought down from his room. Of course the pants and shirt were several sizes too big, but Ichigo had managed to find one of his older pairs of sweatpants and Isshin pulled the drawstring in the pants tight so that they somewhat hugged Toshirou's slender waist.

"Ichigo…?" Isshin said, as he looked over towards where his son was sitting.

"Hmm?" Ichigo grunted, unable to speak because of a rather large amount of noodles currently stuffed in his mouth.

"How much do you know about this boy?" Ichigo swallowed and then opened his mouth again about to answer his dad, but then all of a sudden he was cut off. "This is the boy that you've been so preoccupied about recently, isn't he?"

"Yea." Ichigo muttered.

Isshin very carefully picked up the small boy and moved him over to the large sofa and exited the room for a minute, returning a minute later with a large blanket which he draped over Toshirou, making sure to cover his shoulders. "There we go," Isshin grinned, "That's the best we can do for him. Until he wakes up that is, and in the meantime I think it's about time you brought me up to speed."

Ichigo explained everything to his dad and was sure not to leave anything out. He told his dad about when he first met Toshirou and everything that had happened since, including everything about Toshirou's past that Ukitake had been kind enough to tell him and finally ending with the events that had transpired only a few hours ago. Isshin stayed silent the entire time; nodding every few minutes to show Ichigo that he was still listening.

"And that was when I brought him here." Ichigo concluded.

"I see… poor kid." Isshin said solemnly as he looked over towards Toshirou, who seemed to finally be sleeping peacefully. "I'm glad you told me, it explains the strange marking that I found on his arm when I was getting him out of his wet clothes.

"What are you talking about, old man?" Ichigo asked, confused. He had never seen any sort of odd looking markings on the white-haired boy's skin before.

Isshin walked over towards Toshirou, Ichigo right behind him. The older Kurosaki cautiously pulled the blanket covering Toshirou down so that his right arm became visible. Then, just as carefully he pushed the baggy sleeve up Toshirou's shoulder and gently lifted his thin wrist just enough so that one could see what looked to Ichigo like some sort of animal wrapped around something.

"What is it?" Ichigo inquired, still trying to figure out exactly what it was he was looking at.

"You should know better than anyone; you might find something similar on your own waist." Isshin stated.

Ichigo quickly pulled off his shirt and looked down to see something that he hadn't thought about for so long, he forgot he even had it. Clearly imprinted on the skin on his waist was none other than the tattoo he had been forced to get when he had joined The Noches all those years ago. Ichigo's eyes widened and he looked in the direction his dad was in, then Toshirou, then back to his dad. "You… you think that's a gang tattoo?"

"I wish I could say no, but I saw some guys walking past here a little earlier today and they had the exact same insignia emblazoned on some bandanas they were wearing." Isshin frowned. "From what I saw it looked like a bright blue dragon curling itself around the Japanese kanji for the number ten. I recognized it because of its similarity to the caduceus found in the field of medicine.

Ichigo took another good look at the marking on Toshirou's shoulder and now that he thought about it, he could slightly make out the dragon and number ten kanji that his father described. _Toshirou…_ Ichigo continued to stare at the boy sleeping peacefully on the couch. _Just when I thought I was finally starting to figure you out… I vividly remember all the horrible things I witnessed and even experienced in my gang; but at least I had a family to go home to at the end of the day… _

Isshin, sensing that Ichigo wanted to be alone with the white-haired boy, laid Toshirou's arm down before covering it again and proceeding to pick up Ichigo's abandoned bowl, vanishing into the kitchen.

_At least he's stopped shaking… _Ichigo thought as he brushed Toshirou's still damp hair off his face. "Don't worry Toshirou; you're safe now, I promise."

* * *

Toshirou was standing in a small dark room and there were thick iron bars in front of him blocking off any possibility of escape. The white-haired boy tried to sneak a peek at what was outside, but his legs started shaking threatening to give out on him. The place before him looked very familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it… _Where am I?_ _I feel like I've been here before, but..._

"Good morning our dear guests… who wants to go first today?" A mysterious voice sounded from the other side of the bars. Toshirou remained silent and not too much longer Toshirou saw a man approaching his cell.

"Looks like it's your lucky day, little one." The man sneered as he slid the bars opened and harshly grabbed onto Toshirou's small wrist and started dragging him out of the cell.

"No… stop!" Toshirou yelled as he was dragged farther and farther out of his cell. Toshirou attempted to pull away, but the man was just too strong and easily dragged Toshirou behind him to wherever he was headed. Toshirou did know one thing; there was no way he wanted to go anywhere this man was going. Just about when Toshirou and the mysterious man approached the cell closest to the door, a voice began to yell in their direction desperately trying to get their attention.

"No! Wait! Toshirou!" The man begged. "Please! Take me instead! Please…. Leave him out of this!" Toshirou could barely see the man who was pleading so hard for his release.

"Shut it, Takeda." The man paused, right before disappearing through the door, while Toshirou stood frozen behind him. _Takeda… is-is that my… dad?_ Toshirou could have sworn he saw a small tuft of strangely familiar white hair poking out between the bars of the man's cell. Takeda continued shouting until the man who was dragging Toshirou away yelled, "Don't worry dude… we won't kill your precious little boy just yet. He just needs to be marked as our property, today. Of course, I'm sure he will turn out just as useful as you were in the end." The man laughed as he pulled Toshirou out of the room. Both of the Hitsugaya's were shouting by now; Takeda trying furiously to get out of his cell and his son thrashing around desperately trying to get out the mysterious man's grasp. No matter how far it seemed Toshirou was dragged, he could still clearly hear his father's desperate cries as loud as if he were standing next to the man.

"Toshirou!" A voice continued to yell, but now it was starting to sound less like his father and more like….

"Toshirou!" The voice yelled again.

Toshirou awoke with a start, and found himself face to face with a very concerned looking Ichigo Kurosaki.

"K-Kuro…saki?" Toshirou mumbled, his mind still fuzzy from the nightmare.

"Are you okay? I was just sleeping next to you when you suddenly began yelling and thrashing around on the couch."

"O-oh… sorry." Toshirou apologized, as he started to nervously play with the hem of the blanket currently covering his small form.

"Don't worry about it." Ichigo grinned. "I'm glad you're okay."

It was as if a dam suddenly burst at those words and everything that had happened to him the past few days began to rush through Toshirou's brain, filling it to the brim until he thought it would burst. Ichigo could tell that something was very wrong and laid a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, but instead of calming him, the boy's body instantly tensed.

"Get away from me!" Toshirou yelled, as he tried to lean away from Ichigo's hand. However, instead of relinquishing his grasp, Ichigo pulled the boy into a gentle, but reassuring hug.

"Shh… Toshirou it's okay… it's okay." Ichigo cooed as he continued to hug the smaller male closer while starting to rub his back soothingly. After a few moments, Toshirou's carefully built walls finally broke apart and he let everything loose that he had been trying to shoulder by himself and began to sob uncontrollably into Ichigo's chest.

Toshirou didn't know how he found himself crying like a little kid into the Ichigo's chest… This wasn't like him; he never showed any weakness to anyone else before. So why did it feel so darn natural when he was with the strawberry? _I need to get a hold of myself. _He thought to himself and slowly, after a few minutes Toshirou was able to stop the flow of seemingly endless tears flowing freely from his bright teal eyes and simply rested his head comfortingly against Ichigo's chest.

"Feel better?" Ichigo grinned.

"Shut up." Toshirou muttered sleepily.

Ichigo merely laughed, resulting in an annoyed scowl to appearing on the white-haired boy's face.

Toshirou stiffened when a flood of new images started flashing through his head in quick succession. He remembered seeing Ichigo; he remembered the cold, and then, nothing… but now he was in dry clothes and he wasn't nearly as cold as he had remembered. What in the world happened after he had lost consciousness?

Toshirou looked up into the welcoming face of the strawberry, "Kurosaki… w-where am I? How did I get here? And, what am I wearing…?" He asked as he looked down at the oversized and baggy clothes he was currently sporting.

"Calm down, Toshirou. You're at my house; I brought you here after I got away us from those thugs that kidnapped you. I was originally going to take you to the hospital, but then it started raining really hard so I thought it would be a better idea to bring you here. My dad has a decent background in medicine and I was hoping that he would be able to help you. To answer your other question, you're wearing my clothes because we had to get you out of your wet clothing and these were the best I could find."

Toshirou nodded. "How long have I been out?"

"Hmm… I'm not quite sure." Ichigo paused and started to scratch his head before he answered. "You were out for the majority of yesterday evening and through the entire night, though I couldn't really say for how long exactly." Ichigo finished, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, can you at least tell me what time it is?"

"It's uh…" Ichigo looked around the room before finally spotting a small wall clock that read 6:00am. "It's 6 in the morning." _Holy crap, what the hell am I doing up at 6 in the morning… and on a Saturday too no less…_ Before he could stop it, a heavy sigh escaped the strawberry's lips.

Toshirou couldn't help but feel guilty for waking up his host so early in the morning. "Sorry for causing you so much trouble, I'll just leave." Toshirou muttered as he pushed himself up into a sitting position and swung his feet off the side of the couch and attempted to stand up, but his body was still weak from the events of the previous night. His legs felt like jelly and seconds after standing up his legs gave out and Toshirou fell only to be caught in the strawberry's gentle embrace.

"Don't be stupid, you're not going anywhere." Ichigo said sternly. "You are going to stay here whether you like it or not." Ichigo lifted Toshirou up and laid him back on the couch before helping the young genius to sit up with his head resting against a pillow that Ichigo had propped up for him. Before Toshirou had any chance to protest, Ichigo spoke again. "Now that you're finally awake, my dad said we need to get some fluids in your system and I'm almost positive that you're probably really hungry too. I'll go make you a nice big bowl of soup." Ichigo ran off towards the kitchen, leaving Toshirou alone in the family room feeling quite out of place.

Toshirou knew that refusing help from the orange-haired teenager was no longer going to be a viable option; but still it felt weird depending on someone other than himself. Toshirou wasn't really sure what to do at this point, so he opted for just leaning back against the pillow, while staring up at the ceiling. Toshirou was so consumed in thought that he didn't even notice when another person entered the room and approached the couch.

"I see you've finally woken up."

Toshirou practically jumped clear off the couch and turned around slightly to stare wide eyed at the man that had just addressed him. Isshin Kurosaki regrettably realized that he had spooked the boy and decided that it would be best to introduce himself to his newest guest.

"You have nothing to worry about, Toshirou." Isshin assured the young boy, "I'm Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father. I've heard so much about you; it's nice to finally meet you."

Toshirou nodded slowly, "Pleased to meet you as well, Mr. Kurosaki. I'm sorry for causing you and your son so much trouble."

"It's no trouble at all!" Isshin exclaimed, causing Toshirou to flinch slightly. "I am always happy to help out one of Ichigo's friends."

_Friend…_Toshirou's mind lingered on the simple word._ Does Ichigo really consider me a friend…? Do I consider him mine?_

"Just so you know… you are welcome to stay here as long as you like." A small smile crept its way onto the elder Kurosaki's face.

"…thank you, Mr. Kurosaki." Toshirou muttered very softly. Toshirou waited in the awkward silence before something occurred to him. "Is it just you and Ichigo here living here, or is there others?"

"I actually have two other daughters and my late wife passed away when the kids were young." Isshin saw the confused look on Toshirou's face and quickly elaborated. "They decided to have a sleepover at a friend's house last night when the storm hit, so that's why they aren't here right now. Honestly, I really don't have any idea of when they are planning on coming home." There was silence for a moment before Isshin muttered, "What's my idiotic son doing, taking so long making something as simple as soup…?"

"Hey, dad!" Ichigo yelled, as if on cue, from the kitchen. "Ask Toshirou what he wants to drink, will ya?"

Isshin switched his gaze from the direction his son's voice had been coming and settled it on the boy in front of him. "So, what are you feeling like right now, Toshirou? Just name it."

"Water's fine…"

"He said he wants water! Try not to screw it up okay, son?" Isshin joked as he yelled in the direction of the kitchen.

"Yea, yea… you're just lucky that my hands are full of soup and water old man, or you'd already be flat against the wall." Ichigo grinned back as he finally appeared from around the corner.

Isshin pulled out a simple lap tray that he had brought out last night before retiring to bed, and set it lightly on either side of Toshirou's legs.

"Here ya go, Toshirou. Enjoy!" Ichigo grinned as he set down the large steaming bowl of soup and the glass of water. "Oh, and don't hesitate to ask for more if you're still hungry or thirsty after you finish it."

"Mhmm…" Toshirou grunted as he began to practically inhale the soup, taking long gulps of the water in between bites. Ichigo almost couldn't believe it when a few minutes later Toshirou held up the bowl hopefully.

"Dang… Toshirou!" Ichigo stared at the bowl, "Glad you didn't go ahead and eat the bowl too." The strawberry grinned.

Toshirou lowered his arms and looked down at the tray in his lap, slightly embarrassed. He could feel his face heating up as a blush began to make its way slowly onto his face.

"I'm just messin with ya; no need to take anything I say too seriously." Ichigo laughed, "It's just the way I am, you can ask my dad." Isshin nodded, while Ichigo just shook his head.

Time passed and Toshirou continued to consume bowl after bowl of food until finally after what seemed like his thirteenth bowl finally pushed away the empty bowl and laid back against his pillow sighing contentedly.

With a huge smile on his face, Ichigo took the empty bowl and tray towards the kitchen. _Holy hell, I didn't think he was ever going to stop… I was starting to get worried that I was going to run out of stuff to give him. It was like he hasn't had a decent meal in- oh wait,_ Ichigo frowned in realization,_ that's actually probably true… I'm betting he hasn't had a proper meal in years._ Ichigo quickly returned to the white-haired boy's side to make sure that he was comfortable and to see if he needed anything.

Ichigo placed a hand on Toshirou's shoulder, "Why don't you get some more rest? I'm sure you're still exhausted and sleep can only help."

"Maybe later…" Toshirou paused not looking forward to what he was about to do. "C-could you… could you possibly…uhm… help me go outside for a moment?"

"Outside?" Ichigo asked, confused. "Why would you want to go outside? It's still really cold out and I… well, I really don't want to risk you… you know, getting sick…" Ichigo stuttered.

Toshirou was genuinely touched by the strawberry's concern for his health, but nevertheless he shook his head. "Please? It will just be for a little, I promise."

Ichigo still wasn't all too thrilled with the idea, but he decided if Toshirou borrowed one of his heavier jackets, a few minutes outside to recharge the battery couldn't hurt. "M'kay… just as long as you wear a jacket while we are out there."

"I think I can live with that." Toshirou grinned, but it quickly disappeared when Ichigo snuck his arms under the smaller's legs and back.

"What do you think you are doing Kurosaki…? The young genius growled.

"Carrying you of course; unless you think you can make it all the way outside yourself." Ichigo chuckled, as he lifted the small boy and began walking towards the front door as Toshirou mumbled something under his breath that Ichigo couldn't catch. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Nothing." Toshirou muttered.

"Are you sure? Is there something you wanna talk about?" The strawberry asked honestly. Ichigo had realized something very important while he had been waiting for Toshirou to wake up after he brought the younger male to his house last night. At first, Ichigo had thought that his feelings towards the white-haired boy were simply born from his tendency to want to help any of his friends that were in need; but Toshirou was a different matter completely.

Ichigo was so lost in this thoughts that he almost didn't realize that they had already arrived at the front door and Ichigo was just about a single step away from walking straight into the door, similar to the way he had run into Ukitake's classroom door the other day… but this time Toshirou would have been sandwiched in-between the larger teenager and the door and that would not end well. The strawberry quickly pulled the door open and maneuvered his body so that Toshirou's legs or head didn't bump or knock against the outline of the door.

A chilly blast of cold air met the two boys as they stepped out onto the porch of the Kurosaki house. The Kurosaki's had never had much of a front yard, let alone a porch, so there was but a single chair decorating the small porch.

Toshirou inwardly sighed when he saw the single chair and he knew exactly how this scene was going to unfold…. the strawberry would undoubtedly have him sit in his lap like the small child he resembled. _Well, at least it's Ichigo, _Toshirou thought dismissively. _Wait, what the heck am I thinking? Ichigo is just a schoolmate, a friend at most… right?_ Toshirou thought for a moment, but being the prodigy he was he knew that he was only deluding himself and he would have to stop denying the inevitable.

Ichigo sat down on the chair and pulled Toshirou close, hopefully not just to make the younger male in his arms more comfortable, but himself as well. The very last thing Ichigo expected was for Toshirou to curl his small body in towards his own and rest his head against his chest. Nevertheless, here he was, the young genius that had no friends and refused to get close to anyone… was curled up in Ichigo's embrace, all of his carefully constructed walls raised to keep anyone out, crumbling before the strawberry's presence. "How are you feeling, Toshirou?"

"Mhmm… not too bad… just a lil sore and kinda sleepy…" Toshirou slurred slightly as he continued to bury his head into Ichigo's chest. Ichigo thought that Toshirou might have fallen asleep and was about to bring the boy back inside when all of a sudden he heard Toshirou's muffled voice. "Kurosaki…?"

"Want to head back in?" Ichigo guessed. The pair had been outside for almost ten minutes.

"No… not yet, anyway. I want to know something. It's been bothering me for awhile now…"

"What's up?" Ichigo asked.

"Why are you so determined to help me? I threatened your life the first time we met and I've done nothing but act cold towards you ever since then, so why? I'm nothing special."

Ichigo stayed silent for a moment contemplating what to say to the young boy. _Should I tell him the truth? That I find him absolutely irresistible and I haven't been able to stop thinking about his since the moment I met him?_ Ichigo knew he would never have this kind of opportunity again, he looked down at Toshirou who chose at that time to look right up at Ichigo so that they were staring into each other eyes.

"You couldn't be more wrong. You're so special, you're beautiful, smart and really strong, and you can't help who your parents were or what they did."

"I'm not so sure about all that." Toshirou answered glumly.

"Well I am, and I am going to be by your side making sure that you realize it." Ichigo answered and before he knew what he was doing he pressed his lips softly against Toshirou's and to Ichigo's absolute elation Toshirou began kissing him back. Only once both boys had run out of air did the pair break apart and when they did, they continued to stare tenderly into each other's eyes.

It was Ichigo who eventually decided to break the silence as he hugged the white-haired boy even closer to him. "I love you, Toshirou Hitsugaya."

Ichigo had never seen such a large smile find its way onto the smaller's face and when he heard what Toshirou said next he found himself grinning madly as well.

"I love you too, Ichigo."

* * *

**A/N: Yay for almost an entire chapter of IchiHitsu fluff! There will definitely be some devious goings on next chapter so stay tuned and in the meantime, why not review? I think that's a great idea, so why not do it? Pleaseee? There might be some cookies in it for you guys if you do. ^^  
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	7. Where You Belong

**A/N: Hello, my readers! I'm not dead! Yaaay! :P Sorry it's been so long since I last updated... a whole month...? *gasp* How could you do that to your readers? Well... to be completely honest, A lot of my time was spent on my newest one-shot Losing Faith. You should check it out if you haven't already. ^^ I am going to try VERY hard not to go that long without updating again. I would like to try and get back to my semi-weekly updating schedule, but that is all up to how lame my professors are being, as you have noticed they have been especially lame these past few weeks... and I'm hoping that this delightfully long chapter will make up for being gone for so long. Last thing, I would like to thank all my reader and especially my reviewers! Thanks so much for all the support!**

Disclaimer: I still after all these weeks do not own Bleach...**  
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* * *

Chapter 6- Where You Belong

"Hello…?" Ichigo asked quietly as he quickly picked up the ringing phone while running out of the living room towards the kitchen in an attempt to not wake his sleeping boyfriend. "Geeze Rangiku… could you possibly yell any louder?" Ichigo whined in the direction of the phone, which he was now holding out at arm's length so as to avoid losing the ability to hear in his right ear. As she always tended to do, Rangiku completely ignored the strawberry and continued to yell frantically from the other end of the phone.

"How come you never called me Ichigo? I've been so worried! Did you find Toshirou? Is he okay? He's… He's not… is he?" Rangiku started off shouting angrily, but soon the anger became concern and concern became sadness, all in a span of less than five seconds.

Ichigo sighed as he waited for Rangiku to finish ranting and then when she finally faltered, he took his chance to interrupt the eccentric blonde. "Rangiku... don't worry. It's all fine… he's fine. I found Toshirou after school on Friday and he's been at my house ever since."

"Well, can I talk to him? Pleeasseee?" Rangiku whined. "I want to see how he's doing."

"Sorry, no can do Rangiku." Ichigo replied casually.

"Ichigo! That's not fairrr! What's so wrong with him that you won't even let me talk to him?" Rangiku paused, but then started shouting again before Ichigo had the chance to say anything. "Unless…! He's really hurt and now he's in a coma and Oh my god! You had to take him to the hospital!"

"Rangiku… Rangiku!" Ichigo was now also practically yelling into the receiver himself. "Ran-gi-ku! Calm down already! Toshirou was roughed up a bit, but his injuries are healing and right now he's _trying_ to get some sleep in the other room; though I wouldn't be surprised if you already woke him up."

"O-oh…" The strawberry blonde muttered. "Well, can I come over then?"

Ichigo shook his head dejectedly, "What part of _Toshirou is asleep_ do you know you not understand?" Ichigo asked, being careful to put emphasis on the three words Rangiku obviously wasn't getting the concept of.

"But Ichigooo…!" Rangiku moaned, "I'm boreedd…"

"Well, that's not my problem." Ichigo laughed. "Are you saying that _the_ Rangiku Matsumoto, who knows just about everyone in the entire school, has no-one to go out and waste time with?"

"Yes! It's just horrible isn't it?" The strawberry blonde shouted from the other side of the receiver, still not catching on to the fact that Ichigo was being sarcastic.

"Rangiku, you-" Ichigo began to say, when all of a sudden he heard a loud, terrified filled scream coming from the living room.

"What was that?" Rangiku shouted in surprise; completely forgetting about her previous predicament.

"I gotta go." Ichigo hung up the phone and dropped it roughly on the kitchen counter that was closest, before running as fast as he could towards the living room where just a few minutes ago his boyfriend had been supposedly sleeping peacefully.

* * *

_Toshirou had just finished eating lunch and was starting to feel very drowsy. Ichigo had run out to the store awhile ago to restock the kitchen and he wasn't probably going to be back for another half hour to an hour. Toshirou carefully placed the empty tray on the floor next to the couch, pulled the blanket he had been using up to his hips and then laid his head on his pillow and was sound asleep within a few moments._

_About thirty minutes after Toshirou had fallen asleep; Ichigo stumbled in the door, his arms full of groceries. The strawberry quickly dropped all the bags on the kitchen counter and began putting everything away before heading towards the living room to see if Toshirou needed anything. Ichigo saw the small boy sleeping on the couch and wandered over towards him. He was about to sit down next to Toshirou, when all of a sudden the phone started ringing. Ichigo nearly tripped over his own feet in an attempt to get to the phone as fast as possible, so as to avoid waking his slumbering lover. Toshirou squirmed a little, but soon became still again and Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief as he ran towards the kitchen._

_The living room was deathly quiet until Ichigo's shouting shattered the stillness that had finally settled._

"_Rangiku… Rangiku! Calm down!"_

"_Ugh…" Toshirou muttered under his breath as he was stirred back towards the brink of consciousness. "What's all that racket…?" He muttered as he buried his face deeper and deeper into his pillow and tried to fall asleep again, but he soon realized that it wasn't going to happen as long as Ichigo was shouting at the top of his lungs. Toshirou slowly opened his eyes, looking around the room as he slowly sat up and leaned back against the pillow. The prodigy decided to wait for Ichigo to finish up his conversation and his gaze was drifting around the room lazily, when a shadow in the window caught the corner of his eye._

_As Toshirou focused his gaze, the shadow started to slowly started to shape into something that looked oddly… human? Then, all of a sudden before Toshirou knew it, whatever the thing was… was gone. Toshirou barely had time to collect himself before all of a sudden a man was standing right in front of him and it wasn't his orange-haired boyfriend._

"_K-K-Kazu…hara…?" Toshirou breathed; he could feel his body going numb and his heartbeat starting to speed up and begin beating erratically. "W-what...? How…?" Toshirou gasped._

_Kazuhara laughed loudly and Toshirou wondered why Ichigo wasn't rushing into the room when he heard the thunderous laugh that obviously did not belong to the young genius._

"_You didn't really think that there was any place that you could go that we wouldn't find you, did you?" Another bone chilling laugh made its way past the man's lips, making a chill go down Toshirou's spine as the terrified boy backed as far as he could into the couch, while bringing his knees up to his chest._

"_You're not here… you're just a figment of my imagination… you can't hurt me…" Toshirou started muttering to himself as he started to rock back and forth on the spot._

"_Comon, little Toshi-kun, it's time for you to return where you belong." _

_This is just a dream… I'm still sleeping… he can't hurt me; he's not really here after all. Toshirou thought to himself as Kazuhara extended a pale, thin arm and firmly grasped his hand around Toshirou's thin wrist. Toshirou was shocked when he the cold, pale hand made contact. It felt so real… and when Kazuhara began pulling the petrified boy off the couch, he did the only thing his panicked mind could think of. He screamed. He screamed as loud as he possibly could. _

"_ICHIGO!"

* * *

_

Ichigo had no idea what could have possibly scared his small boyfriend so much that he would scream out as loud as he did. _Did Dad do something to scare him? I wouldn't put it past him- wait… dad went out of town and said that he wouldn't be back for a few days… _

It just confused the strawberry even more when he finally entered the living room to find that everything seemed completely normal… well, everything except for a certain trembling boy with distinctive white hair, who had his legs pulled up to chest, while trying, and failing to hold back a well of tears that were threatening to escape by keeping his eyes scrunched together tightly. Ichigo was at his boyfriend's side almost instantaneously and realized that he was rocking back and forth muttering something that sounded a lot like "I don't wanna go… I d-don't wanna go… p-please…I don't…"

"Toshirou? What's wrong?" Toshirou didn't seem to notice the presence of the orange-haired teen, so Ichigo sat down on the couch right next to him attempting to pull him closer; but the younger male drew away instantly when he felt Ichigo's hand slink around his slender waist.

"I don't want to go, please!" The young genius yelled frantically, while doing everything he could possibly think of to escape Ichigo's grasp.

"I'm not taking you anywhere, Shiro… Not unless you want me to." Ichigo whispered coolly, trying to calm the scrambling boy down by removing his hands from his waist and bringing one up to his chest, which began drawing small circles on Toshirou's small chest, while the other hand started to run through the boy's disheveled and fluffy, white hair.

Toshirou's eyes shot open and he turned around suddenly to stare at the strawberry's face for a few seconds with a dazed expression. Ichigo had no idea what was going on with his obviously very distressed lover. He brushed Toshirou's hair out of his face and then brought the boy into a tight hug.

"Toshirou, baby? Please tell me what's going on…" Ichigo was starting to get concerned with his boyfriend's lack of response and decided that if he couldn't get anything out of the boy within a few more minutes, then he was going to start to get _really_ worried and would probably end up calling his dad to see if there was anything else he could do.

"I-Ichigo?" Toshirou muttered slowly, the strawberry let out huge sigh of relief when he finally heard something from the figure sitting in his lap.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo repeated, "I was in here like ten minutes ago and you were dead asleep on the couch, then I went to the kitchen to talk to Rangiku for a few minutes and then all of a sudden… this." Toshirou mumbled something so low and quiet that Ichigo couldn't make out a single syllable, "Sorry, didn't catch that, can you say it again a little louder?" Ichigo asked as continued to hug the boy closer to him.

" 'hara…" Toshirou managed to finally whisper into Ichigo's ear. Ichigo still wasn't sure what he was talking about and he closed his eyes trying to figure out what the small boy was hinting at. Toshirou knew that Ichigo probably wasn't going to be able to figure it out; as much as the young white-haired boy loved him, the strawberry wasn't the brightest fruit in the bunch… as much as he didn't want to… he knew he was going to have to outright tell Ichigo what had happened. "K-kazu…h-hara… here…" Toshirou started to hyperventilate, but calmed slightly when Ichigo started rubbing his back soothingly again and he was able to catch his breath just enough so that he could whisper, "w-was g-going to t-take me b-back… but I d-didn't want t-to…"

Ichigo was now thoroughly more confused than he had ever been in his life; which for him was a pretty big deal. _Why does that name sound so familiar…? _Ichigo silently wondered to himself while he continued to calm the distressed genius in his lap. _Wait! Didn't that guy who kidnapped Toshirou say his name was Kamihada or something…? No, that must have been this Kazuhara guy he's talking about… but how in the world would he know where I took Toshirou, let alone how the hell would he be able to get in my house…?_

"Calm down baby, I've got you… you aren't going anywhere." Ichigo cooed as he brought the young genius even closer. "I promise… as long as you are in this house, I won't let any of those thugs anywhere near you."

Ichigo sounded so adamant; Toshirou couldn't help but be reassured by the strawberry's words and he found himself feeling safe and calm within the walls of the Kurosaki residence, with one particular Kurosaki in mind.

Ichigo lay back casually against the pillow his small boyfriend was using, pulling the now significantly calmer boy back along with him. Toshirou welcomed this adjustment, thoroughly exhausted now that all the adrenaline that had been coursing through his body was starting to drain from his system. Toshirou crawled further into Ichigo's warm and welcoming embrace, his body finally starting to relax and just when he was on the brink of a peaceful sleep; the loud shrill ringing of the doorbell sliced through the delicate silence that had descended, causing the young genius to jump slightly at the sudden interruption.

"Who the hell could that be…?" Ichigo silently cursed as he reluctantly removed himself from the couch, leaving his sleepy boyfriend alone attempting to fall asleep once again.

Before Ichigo was able to even able to reach the front door, he heard a familiar high pitched voice yelling from the other side of the thick front door in front of him.

"Ichigo! Are you home? I've come over to see you and Toshirou!"

The strawberry didn't even have to look through the peephole to recognize the distinctive shrill yell of their energetic classmate, Rangiku Matsumoto. He took a deep breath and opened the door bracing himself for one of strawberry blonde's infamous bear-hugs… _three…two…one…_ right on cue Ichigo could feel the life being squeezed from him as Rangiku practically swung Ichigo around like he was a weightless rag doll.

"Ra-Rangiku! C-Can't Breathe!" Ichigo gasped loudly hoping that the girl would hear and stop suffocating him.

"Oh! Sorry, Ichigo!" Rangiku gasped as she finally dropped her orange-haired classmate, who promptly sunk to his knees trying desperately to get air back into his currently deprived lungs.

"Geeze, Rangiku… could you have possibly hugged me any harder?" Ichigo muttered as he finally rose from his position on the floor, rubbing the back of his head.

Rangiku ignored Ichigo like any other time he complained about something that she did. "Ichigo! It seems like I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I just saw you a few days ago…" Ichigo laughed.

"Well, it's felt much longer than that!" Rangiku whined as her eyes began wandering around the room like she was looking for a certain person with a distinctive head of white hair.

"If you're looking for Toshirou, he's in the other room trying to sleep…" Ichigo stated, answering the strawberry blonde's unvoiced question.

Rangiku's eyes continued to scour the room and she was silent for a few seconds before finally speaking. "So… are you uh- going to tell me what that was all about earlier?"

"Oh, that…" Ichigo frowned as he thought about the bizarre events that had just unfolded; most of which he still had as of yet to have made any sense of. "It was nothing." The strawberry shrugged, but his classmate wasn't having any of that.

"It sure didn't sound like nothing… Toshirou yelled really loud, I could hear it clearly on my end and he's not usually one to draw any unnecessary attention to himself." Rangiku concluded as she continued to stare down the strawberry.

Ichigo sighed, he should have known better than to try and lie to Rangiku… after all she was the person who had known Toshirou the longest, so she was more than familiar with all of his quirks and his typical behaviors. "Really…"

"Ichigo, don't even try and tell me it was nothing." Rangiku said sternly as she shook a finger in his face.

Ichigo sighed again, but this time he knew he had lost. "I'm not really sure what happened myself to be completely honest." Rangiku was staring at Ichigo with a disbelieving look on her face so he decided to elaborate. "I ran over to where he was as fast as I could, but when I got there I didn't find anything unusual except for the fact that Toshirou was really spooked about something."

"Hmm…" Rangiku muttered as she contemplated the story Ichigo had just relayed. "Well, where is he?"

"Right here."

"Toshirou!" Rangiku squealed as she turned around to see her young friend standing still half asleep in the large doorway that led from the kitchen towards the living room.

"I thought you were sleeping…?" Ichigo asked as he walked over towards the boy currently scratching his head as he let out a particularly large yawn.

"Yea… like I could sleep with her screaming in here at the top of her lungs." Toshirou said as he nodded his head in the strawberry blonde girl's direction.

Rangiku crossed her arms and pouted, muttering. "This is what I get for being worried about you, Shirou-chan..."

Toshirou's face visibly twitched when she addressed him with the nickname she knew he despised so much. Rangiku, thankfully, did not address him by it often; usually, only when she was teasing him. The only one that was allowed to get away, even slightly with that would be Ichigo; or possibly, depending on his mood, Ukitake, only because he was an old friend of the Hitsugaya's.

"I can take care of myself, thanks." Toshirou declared.

"Mhmm… obviously…" Rangiku replied, rolling her eyes.

"What are you doing here anyway, Rangiku…?" The young prodigy muttered.

"Ahh…. So mean… Shirou-chan," Rangiku whined in a high-pitch voice. "I was worried about you! Am I not allowed to come by and check and see how you are doing?"

"I guess not…" Toshirou muttered quietly. "Well, if you need me, I'll be in the other room." The obviously bored genius said as he shrugged off one of Ichigo's hands that had been resting on his shoulder, before striding over to grab an empty glass and fill it with water and promptly heading back towards the living room.

Ichigo wanted to follow his boyfriend into the other room, but stayed planted to the spot due to the fact that Rangiku was still in the room and he didn't want to look like a bad host in front of her by leaving. Ichigo also didn't want to be rude and ask Rangiku to leave, but she had seen and talked with Toshirou, which was why she claimed she had come over in the first place. _Why is she just standing there? It's like she's waiting for me to say something or… I don't know… _Ichigo decided to break the uncomfortable silence that had settled since Toshirou had made his exit.

"So…" The strawberry started uncomfortably.

"So…" Rangiku replied. It had been the quietest thing she had said the entire visit. "Well… um… I was wondering… if Toshirou could help me study for our math final this week… I need help finishing that study guide Ukitake-sensei gave us in class and he's really good at explaining that kind of stuff to me." Rangiku looked hopefully into Ichigo's eyes and then all of a sudden she saw panic shoot across his features.

"Shit! That's this week?" Ichigo gasped, staring eyes wide at the blond before him. _Crap… I've been so worried about Toshirou lately that I totally forgot about finals this week… brilliant, just brilliant…_

"Yea… actually it's tomorrow." Rangiku replied, probably more cheerful than she should have been.

"Double shit!" Ichigo muttered under his breath and then another few seconds passed before he finally said, "Okay, let's go see if Toshirou is feeling up to it. He is still recovering after all, so we don't want to push him too much."

"Yay! Thanks, Ichigo!" Rangiku exclaimed happily.

"Don't thank me yet. It's still ultimately up to Toshirou." Ichigo stated as he led his classmate into the living room to find Toshirou lying back on his pillow, so engrossed in reading a book he was holding that he didn't even notice the other two teenagers enter the room.

Finally, Ichigo reached the couch and bent down to kiss the smaller male. Toshirou didn't jump when he felt the sudden contact; he simply smiled as he continued to read his book.

"Toshirou?" Ichigo whispered into the smaller's ear. "You think you're up to possibly helping me and Rangiku study for the math final tomorrow?"

Rangiku wasn't quite sure what to make of the scene unfolding before her very eyes. Toshirou was acting like a completely different person, right now with Ichigo, than in the past few years that Rangiku had known him. She had never seen him get close with anybody… when she thought about it; she had probably been the closest to him and still couldn't honestly say she had ever been _this _close to him.

"Well, I'll help Rangiku, but there are no promises when it comes to you, baka." Toshirou snickered as he kept his eyes planted on the book in his hands, but whether or not he was still actually reading it was anyone's guess.

"Are you saying that the boy genius, Toshirou Hitsugaya actually isn't able to accomplish something having to do with academics, especially in your favorite subject…?" Ichigo bantered back, getting way to much satisfaction playing this game with his boyfriend that he didn't even notice the shocked look on Rangiku's face when he wrapped his arms around Toshirou's small frame.

"Hey, Ichigo… why don't you come uh, let me get my things by the door." Rangiku said as she started trying to pull the strawberry by his arm, but she failed to move him a single inch as he looked up in her face confused.

"It's just right in the next room…" he started before being interrupted by the blonde.

"Ichigo, just… come on." Rangiku said seriously and Ichigo still completely oblivious to why his classmate was acting so odd felt that he really didn't have any choice in the matter and followed Rangiku out of the room.

"I don't see why you couldn't just-"

"Ichigo, what's going on here?" The strawberry-blonde tone was suddenly serious and even… angry?

"Well… you're too lazy to get your books-"

"No." Rangiku interrupted the strawberry yet again. "I mean… what is going on with you and Toshirou?"

"Oh…" Ichigo muttered softly, while a small blush started to make its way onto his face as he all of a sudden found something on the floor to be very interesting. "Well… he's uh, kinda my… well, he's my boyfriend…" The blushing teen ended nervously.

Rangiku just stood there staring at Ichigo and for a moment he thought that she would start yelling or maybe she would scream and run out; but after she stopped gaping she just about tackled the orange-haired teenager. "Eeeek! I'm so excited for you guys!" Rangiku squealed eagerly. "I have no idea what you did Ichigo, but somehow you managed to do the impossible and not just fall in love with Toshirou, but actually have him love you back!" Rangiku said happily as she finally released Ichigo from her iron hold as she reached down to grab her bag she had dropped as soon as she had entered the Kurosaki household.

Ichigo had just been about to head up to his room to collect his things as well, when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and a voice whisper in his ear. "By the way… I just thought it would be fair to warn you that if you do do _anything_ to hurt Toshirou, you're going to have to deal with me."

If you had asked Ichigo before this point if there were any people that he had met that had managed to intimidate him, the last person he would have said a few minutes ago would have been, Rangiku Matsumoto; but as if answered by the chill that was running down his spine he knew that that statement would definitely be in need of some serious revising.

"Don't worry Rangiku; I have no intention of letting anyone hurt Toshirou as long as I'm around." Ichigo replied, successfully able to keep his voice cool and steady.

And as fast as Rangiku had become serious, she just as fast was her usual fun loving and energetic self again. "Awesome! Now, let's get back in the other room before Toshirou decides to change his mind about tutoring us!" _Okay… note to self… Don't piss off Rangiku. _Ichigo thought as he made his way up to his room to grab his school bag.

For the remainder of the night, the three teenagers spent huddled over their math books in the living room, while Toshirou attempted to practically re-teach the entirety of their math book. It was lucky that Rangiku and Ichigo both had their own personal genius to help them along the way. Around nine in the evening, they all agreed that they needed a break and while Rangiku walked into the kitchen to order dinner for the three, Ichigo carried Toshirou out onto the deck so that they could get some fresh air.

"I have no idea what I would do without you Toshirou." Ichigo mused as he started to shower his lover with light kisses. Toshirou laughed as Ichigo's lips brushed against his skin and that just made Ichigo smile wider; he loved it when he had the rare treat of hearing Toshirou genuinely laugh. Soon, Toshirou reached up for the larger male's kissing him back and before he knew it, Ichigo had captured his lips in a kiss and Toshirou could feel Ichigo's tongue against his teeth and he opened his mouth allowing the strawberry entrance. The two teenager's tongues began to almost blend together as they danced around each other and only parted once their owners didn't have any more oxygen left in their lungs.

"Are you two just about done…?" Rangiku asked amused as she stood in the open doorway.

Toshirou began to blush furiously as he tried to disappear behind the strawberry and out of sight of his long-term friend in the doorway. Ichigo thought that Toshirou just looked even cuter when he was embarrassed, but decided that that probably wasn't the best thing to bring up right about now.

"What's up, Rangiku?"

"Well… I thought you might have wanted to know that the pizza should be here in about a half an hour, but by the looks of things here, it seems you two have everything taken care of." The smiling girl added.

"Let's just get back to studying okay…" Toshirou said annoyed, when he finally decided to untangle himself from the strawberry and started walking towards the entrance that Rangiku was currently blocking.

"Lead the way, Toshirou." Ichigo laughed as he got up to follow his small boyfriend as they all walked back towards the living room and the rest of the study guide that was waiting for them.

* * *

"Ichigo, you baka! Get your lazy ass up; we need to leave for school soon. You don't really want to miss our math final after you actually spent all that time and effort yesterday studying for it, do you?" Toshirou said loudly as he tried to rouse his still slumbering lover. "Don't make me go get some water to pour on you, cause you know I will."

At those words, Ichigo was instantly up and alert. "I'm up… I-I…I'm up…" Ichigo yawned as he stretched and slowly began to pull himself up off the bed, before murmuring. "You wouldn't really pour water on m-me would ya… Shirou?"

"You keep calling me that and I definitely will." Toshirou scowled.

"You seem to be back to your feisty self this morning." Ichigo grinned.

"Shut up." Toshirou muttered. "Just get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast."

"Okay, babe." Ichigo replied as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend from behind and buried his head into Toshirou's fluffy, white locks, before kissing him lightly on the top of his head.

The prodigy turned around and returned the kiss, before leaving to go downstairs and finish fixing their breakfast.

* * *

"I told you that if you didn't get up and get dressed, I was going to pour water on you." Toshirou said simply as he and Ichigo entered through the front doors of Karakura High.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep… you could have at least cut me a littttle slack; I was up till like two last night studying with you for the math final today." Ichigo whined. After Toshirou had gone back downstairs to finish breakfast, Ichigo had indeed gotten dressed. However, he made the mistake of sitting back on his bed before heading downstairs to meet with Toshirou and after he didn't show up for another ten minutes, Toshirou had returned and true to his promise he dumped a pitcher full of water onto the strawberry, thoroughly soaking him to the bone; but successfully waking him up.

The two arrived at Toshirou's locker and he put all his things away, before they headed off in the direction of Ichigo's locker and ultimately Ukitake-sensei's classroom.

"Ichigo! Toshirou!" A voice yelled as the two teenagers finally reached Ukitake's classroom. They turned around just in time to see Rangiku bounding towards them and Toshirou was able to get out of the way at the last second to avoid an unwanted bear-hug from the strawberry blonde. Without missing a beat, Rangiku turned around to face the two males. "Ichigo, did you remember to bring your study guide so that you can get extra-credit on Ukitake-sensei's exam?"

Ichigo's heart dropped. He had been so distracted by Toshirou's ruthless method of waking him up he had totally forgotten to take his study guide from the coffee table in the living room and put it in his bag. He looked at his watch nervously, _Crap! Class starts in like fifteen minutes…. there's no way I could run back home and be back here in time for the exam… all that work for nothing…_ Ichigo had been contemplating what to do so intensely he didn't even notice when Toshirou pulled a large packet of papers from his book-bag.

"Are you looking for this?" The white-haired boy grinned as he waved it in front of the strawberry's face. Ichigo finally decided to look up and breathed a huge sigh of relief when he realized what Toshirou was holding.

"My study guide!" Ichigo exclaimed. "You brought it!" Ichigo yelled as he hugged his little genius. "What in the world would I do without you…" Toshirou just smiled contently.

"You're welcome."

The three then entered the classroom and waited patiently for class to start. Though, Rangiku and Toshirou were perfectly calm, Ichigo couldn't help but feel anxious.

"What if I just blank and forget everything that we went over last night?" The strawberry asked concerned as he leaned back towards Toshirou.

"Don't worry, this stuff is easy. You'll be fine." Toshirou assured the larger male sitting in the desk in front of him.

"Yea… easy for you cuz you're a freakin genius!"

"Stop worrying about me and just concentrate on yourself. You. Will. Be. Fine." The smaller assured his anxious boyfriend.

Ichigo was about to argue with Toshirou when all of a sudden Ukitake began telling the class to quiet down.

"Okay class! I hope that you all got a good sleep last night and had a good breakfast so that you are ready to take the final. I promise everyone one of you that if you did the study guide and understood it, then you have nothing to fear with this exam. On that note, if you do have you completed study guide and would like to hand it in for extra credit please pass it up to the first person in each row." Ukitake paused for a few moments while he waited for everyone to pass up their study guides and once he had them all, he placed them in a neat stack on his desk. Ukitake took out an envelope from inside his desk and began to pass out the exams. "Please put your name on the front page, but do not open it until I tell you to. Also, feel free to write on this exam booklet and if you need any extra space raise your hand and I will give you some scrap paper." Ukitake paused for a moment before continuing. "Now, are there any final questions before we begin?" No-one said anything. "Okay, then… Begin!"

* * *

An hour and a half later, Toshirou, Ichigo and Rangiku all walked out of Ukitake's classroom, all with different expressions on their faces. Toshirou had a bored expression as usual, the test had been nothing more than child's play for him and as always, he had been the first one to finish. Ichigo had a huge smile on his face. Just as Toshirou said, once he stopped worrying so much and decided to have confidence in his abilities, he had been able to focus and had a relatively easy time on the test. He had been one of the last done, but still felt proud of his performance. Last but not least was Rangiku, who unlike the other two had thought that the final had been the hardest test she had ever taken in her life and was currently frowning and looking at the floor while occasionally shaking her head.

"Well, one down and one more to go…" Ichigo muttered as the group made their way towards the cafeteria. "Oh, Toshirou, you wanna eat outside today?" Toshirou just shrugged his shoulders and Ichigo decided to take that as a yes. Today was an uncharacteristically warm day; it wasn't really what one could call warm in the grand scheme of things, but relative to the last few days that had been practically sub-zero it was a huge improvement.

"Toshirou?" Ichigo decided to ask when they finally got their food and had found an empty table outside.

"What?"

"Is everything okay?"

"…"

Ichigo scooted closer to the small boy and rested a comforting arm over the smaller's shoulders. "What's wrong…?" The strawberry could tell ever since they had come to school earlier this morning that something had been bothering his petite boyfriend and he had been hoping that Toshirou would tell him on his own, but that obviously hadn't been the case.

"It…It's just that…" Toshirou started.

"What?"

"I n-need to uh…" Toshirou took a deep breath, "…go back to my uh-place to …get something…"

Ichigo froze, "That's not going to happen."

Toshirou instantly pulled away. "Why not…"

"Those bastards are probably waiting for you… and I don't want you getting hurt again."

"But I need to go-"

"You are not going. And that's final." Ichigo demanded.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Toshirou yelled up at the strawberry. "You don't understand!"

"I can't let you go back there! Whatever it is, it can't possibly be more important than your life!" The strawberry yelled back, refusing to back down.

"Yes it is!"

"What could possibly be more important that your safety?"

"My sword!" Toshirou yelled, before he looked down at the ground, his eyes started to fill with tears and he began to cry. "I-It… was a g-gift from my d-dad…b-before…"

"Toshirou…" Ichigo breathed as he attempted to bring the trembling boy closer, but Toshirou pulled away.

"You don't understand!" Before Ichigo could say or do anything, Toshiro had sprinted off, running as fast as fast as he could towards the old abandoned district of Karakura.

Toshirou had been so distraught that he hadn't really been paying attention much to what was going on around him as he ran as fast as he could towards the place he knew his one last remnant of his parent's was waiting. He finally reached the place and walked inside with tears still flowing freely from his eyes as he felt his spirits lift considerably when he saw his sword, Hyorinmaru lying haphazardly on its side, exactly where he had left it. The white-haired boy hugged it to his chest as he walked outside and decided that he should probably go back and apologize to Ichigo about his outburst. He could feel the tears begin to flow again when he thought about how mad Ichigo would be with him later. Right as he was about to leave the alley and head back to Karakura High he heard a cold voice followed by a loud mirthless laugh that made his heart stop.

"Awn, what's got our little toshi-kun so upset? Tell me and I promise, we'll make it all better…"

* * *

**A/N: Yay cliffhangers! I was originally going to a little further in this chapter, but decided that this was a better stopping point. ^^ Now, its time for you amazing readers to do your thing and Review! Yaaay!  
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** One last little note before I sign off for the night, If you want some more adorable IchiHitsu stories to read while I am writing chapter 7, you should totally check out Why Only You? By Sabaku no Ichigo as well as My Life is Yours also by Sabaku no Ichigo. They are very good, and I highly recommend them. :)  
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	8. They're Coming

**A/N: Yay! I'm back with yet another chapter! First before I say anything else, I want thank all my readers and reviewers for your continued support of this story! I could not possibly tell you how much it makes my day when I get a review and how it totally inspires me to keep writing, so again, Thanks! :) On another quick note, I don't really know what happened to this chapter, It was not supposed to be _this_ long, but like always I got really into it and got a little carried away in the end. Regardless, hope everyone enjoys!**

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine... es Tite Kubo's!

* * *

Chapter 7- They're Coming

Ichigo had wanted more than anything to run after Toshirou the second the white-haired boy had run off, but right as he ran off the bell started to ring and all the teachers had started to usher the students back inside, blowing up at any stragglers. Ichigo's only comfort was the hope that Toshirou had managed to get his sword without incident and would return to school soon or at the very least go back to his house.

"I know your worried Ichigo, but the best thing right now is to drop the matter for the time being and let him just cool off." Rangiku assured the strawberry as they walked back towards the school. "I've known him for a long time and if I have learned anything through it all, it's that after an argument the best thing to do is just give him some space to let him think through things and clear his head."

"I guess…" Ichigo sighed "I just can't help but worry about him… considering all that he's gone through and what he's going through right now."

"I know Ichigo, believe me." Rangiku placed her hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "I tease him about it a lot, but truthfully, he is more than capable of looking after himself. He knows these streets like the back of his hand and I bet he's already on his way back to your place."

"Mhm, yea… I guess." Ichigo muttered as the pair entered the school. What Rangiku had said was true; Toshirou could take care of himself… if he was in his right mind. The problem was that Toshirou _wasn't_ thinking straight and Ichigo couldn't help but feel guilty that he had had a huge part in contributing to that. _Why didn't I just offer to go with him instead of yelling and telling him that he wasn't allowed?_ _I just pray that you're okay, Toshirou… please be okay. _

"Comon Ichigo, you can't afford to worry about all the 'what ifs' right now… We need to hurry to our next exam, we don't want to be late and get detention!" The strawberry blonde exclaimed.

The pair got about as far as Ichigo's locker until Rangiku realized that she had forgotten something in her locker and she ran off before telling Ichigo they could meet up later after their next exam. Ichigo had his History exam next while Rangiku was off to one of her Foreign Language exams.

Ichigo found it harder than usual to concentrate on what he was doing and ended up rereading the same paragraph multiple times before he actually realized what he was reading. He was barely able to finish the exam on time and ended up completely bullshitting the essay when he realized there was only ten minutes left to write the entire essay. By the time Ichigo had finished the exam and was walking out of the classroom he was surprised that he felt much calmer than he had before the exam. The strawberry was still worried for his boyfriend, but after he had been able to give it another thought he had decided that once he got home he was going to apologize to the Toshirou and tell him that he only said what he said because he loved him and didn't want anything to happen to him, even despite how corny it all sounded.

* * *

Ichigo was strolling back towards his place at a leisurely pace, knowing that it would be probably be best not to rush back home too fast, just in-case. He didn't want to do anything else to jeopardize his new relationship with the white-haired genius. As soon as he got home though the strawberry was determined to run in the door and instantly hold his small boyfriend tight in his arms, while telling him how much he really meant to him. Ichigo then planned on showering Toshirou with kisses and most important of all… apologize for arguing with him about something that obviously been a much more important matter to him than he had originally realized.

Rangiku wanted to hang-out after school with Ichigo to help him kill time by grabbing a quick bite to eat with the strawberry, but she had been unfortunately pulled away when one of her girlfriends ran up to her in the hallway sobbing about how her boyfriend just broke up with her. The strawberry blonde was very concerned for her friend's well-being, because the girl tended to have a reputation at school for being very emotional and almost always overreacted to the simplest of situations. So that was that and now Ichigo was wandering around Karakura debating whether or not he should finally head back home and face his undoubtedly irritated boyfriend.

"Ugh…" Ichigo moaned as he shook his head. "How could I have been so insensitive… both Toshirou's parents are dead… I still have my father and if anything ever happened to him I know that I would guard anything that he gave me with my life…" The strawberry shook his head again, this time more vigorously, determined to clear his head. _I've given Toshirou enough time to calm down right? I'd say it's about time to get it over with and just apologize._

Ichigo looked around trying to figure where exactly he had wandered off to. He didn't immediately see anything that he recognized except for… _Karakura River! _The strawberry silently cheered when he saw the river that cut right through the edge of the town. Ichigo walked down to the banks of the usually calm river and was surprised when it was running a lot higher and faster than usual. _Guess I shouldn't get too close to the edge or I might fall in; even though the current probably doesn't have enough power to pull me down river, you never know… not to mention I don't have the slightest idea of where the river even goes …_ Ichigo retreated slightly from the side of the river and followed it for awhile before he realized that he had actually been walking the wrong direction and for the past ten minutes. _Shit_. He thought to himself as he quickly turned on the spot and started sprinting back the other way, hoping that he wouldn't get back to his house too late.

Ichigo was running fast, concentrating hard on getting back to his place as fast as he could. So, when he saw a familiar patch of trees that he had walked past on his way back from school at some point he felt his sprits lift considerably. The orange-haired teenager could have sworn he heard shouting in the distance, but thinking nothing of it, he simply pushed it to the back of his mind and kept walking. Ichigo approached the small patch of trees that looked out of place in the large clearing and leaned against one of the larger trees trying to catch his breath before taking off once again. He was just about to continue on his way home when a slight shadow caught the corner of his eye. It seemed to get bigger and bigger as it emerged over the hill and past the horizon seemingly hobbling along with a walking stick or something of a similar caliber. Ichigo started walking towards the shadow thinking that it might be an elderly person in need of assistance, but when he got closer he could feel his heart dropping into the pit of his stomach.

Ichigo could feel his body freeze as he hoped to god he was hallucinating and that what he saw in front of him wasn't real, that he would wake up from some weird dream and find himself back in his room with Toshirou slumbering peacefully on the makeshift bed he had been occupying the past few days; but of course life was just not that simple for the strawberry… The figure continued to stumble forward slowly and as it got closer Ichigo realized that what he had first thought had been a walking stick was… it couldn't be… a long sword with a… star shaped hilt…?

"I-Ichi…go…?" The small figure whispered weakly.

"Oh my god… T-Toshirou… what happened?" Ichigo gasped. The strawberry could see that Toshirou's body was visibly shaking and it was obvious that the only reason he was on his feet was due to the fact that he was using his sword as a support. At first, the alarmed strawberry didn't see anything obvious that should have caused his boyfriend to look so frail, except for the fact that his clothes were wet and muddy with a few rips and tears and various small clumps of dirt and grass littering his shirt and pants.

A split second later, Toshirou's legs finally gave way and he started to fall to the ground and Ichigo was able to catch the small boy right before he hit the ground. He was about to ask him again what happened when Ichigo saw a large clump of his beloved's usually pure white hair stained a deep shade of red as a result of a large gash on the top of the prodigy's head, blood still flowing slowly from it. Ichigo continued to stare as he attempted to comprehend what had and was still happening before being brought back to the situation by a strained whisper.

"T-They're c-coming…"

"Who's coming?" Ichigo asked, still gaping at the mysterious huge gash on his boyfriend's head as he continued to hold Toshirou's small frame tightly. Then, all of a sudden Ichigo realized who 'they' were and mentally slapped himself for taking as long as he did to realize it.

"Need… to g-get away..." Toshirou mumbled, his voice getting quieter and weaker by the second.

Ichigo quickly lifted the small boy so that the strawberry was cradling him with one arm under his knees and the other supporting the young male's shoulders. "Stay with me, okay Toshirou?" Ichigo whispered frantically into his ear.

The tentative silence was broken when a huge bang swiftly cut through the still afternoon air from somewhere that sounded unnervingly close to where the two teenagers were currently standing. Toshirou's head shot up instantly as he heard the sound, knowing exactly what it meant.

"I-Ichi… please… they're gonna f-find me…!" Toshirou pleaded desperately with his orange haired boyfriend. The urgency in the young boy's voice seemed to snap Ichigo back to his senses for a moment.

"Where-" Ichigo started to say when he was interrupted by a group of voices that were coming from what seemed like just the other side of the hill nearest them. The strawberry looked around frantically, trying to decide whether he should hide or try to make a run for it. _I could just stay here and try and hide in this patch of trees, or I could try and run… but if they are as close as I think they are, I don't know if I'm gonna have the chance to find somewhere else to hide before they get here. _Ichigo didn't have the time to argue with himself so he just decided to hide inside the odd patch of trees, hoping to god that it would be enough.

"Ichi-" Toshirou began to whisper, but was quickly silenced when Ichigo put his fingers up to the smaller's mouth.

"Shh… It's going to be okay, we just need to stay quiet." Ichigo whispered right before a group of ominous shadows emerged at the top of the hill.

"He couldn't have gotten far! Search the area!" One of the men yelled gruffly as he pointed toward the clearing that Ichigo and Toshirou were currently hiding and the remaining men scattered across the area. The men came closer and closer and both Ichigo's and Toshirou's heart rates began to skyrocket. Two men stopped walking right in front of the patch of trees as they decided to take a break from the arduous task of searching the large area.

"The boss is going to have all our heads when he figures out we lost the kid again…" One man sighed as he pulled a lighter and cigarette out of his jacket pocket and continued to light it and took a deep breath before letting it out accompanied with a small puff of smoke.

"Like Kazu said, he couldn't have possibly gotten that far. Did you see that huge gash on his head? Not to mention he was crazy enough to jump and dropped like a rock in the river… I doubt that he's even able to walk straight at this point. We're probably gonna find him passed out somewhere and it will be easy pickings after that." The other man replied as he also pulled out a cigarette. "Hey man, you got a light? I need something for my nerves."

"Mhm…" Said man muttered as he attempted to fish out his lighter before pulling it out of his pant pocket and holding the light to the other man's cigarette. They both breathed deeply and then expelled the smoke right in the direction of Ichigo and Toshirou's hiding spot.

Toshirou wasn't able to muffle a small cough when the smoke managed to invade and irritate his throat. Ichigo's eyes, which had been tightly shut hoping that the men would just walk away; shot open at the quiet, yet unmistakable sound and instantly held up one of his hands to cover the smaller's mouth hoping that the men hadn't noticed their small and potentially fatal mistake. The taller male looked down towards the small boy in his arms and when he saw Toshirou looking back up at him there was only fear and regret in his eyes as if he was trying to apologize for the slip-up; the strawberry simply smiled trying to console his young boyfriend.

"Hey, wha was that?" One of the men muttered.

"What are you talking about? I didn't hear anything…" The other replied. "You must just be hearing things…"

"Nah, man, I swear I just heard something…"

"It was probably just another one of our guys…? Speaking of which we should probably go back to look before the boss finds us slacking."

"Mhmmm… whatever." The other man shrugged. "Let's go."

Right then Ichigo did something that he knew he would always regret till the day he died… right as the men started walking away, Ichigo involuntarily let out a particularly large sigh of relief and right as he did so, the man who originally had heard them stopped, frozen to the spot.

"Hold on." He said as he grabbed the other man's shoulder, successfully stopping their retreat. "I _know_ I heard something that time."

"Comon man, we don't have time for this." The other hissed as he tried to shake the other off.

Without so much a glance in his cohort's direction he closed his eyes for a split second before opening them just to settle his eyesight on the exact spot where Ichigo and Toshirou were currently huddling.

"Whose there?" the man demanded harshly, bearing his stained, crooked teeth.

Ichigo's heart rate sped up even more, if that was even possible and began to thump hard in his chest as he realized that they had been found out. He tried to stay stoic as the young genius in his arms started shaking considerably, realizing that they had been caught as well.

_There's no way out… we're surrounded and I can barely walk, let alone run…_ Toshirou thought desperately to himself as he felt Ichigo lifting his body for a moment before sitting him back down where he had been sitting moments before. He was confused for a moment before he realized what Ichigo was about to do. _He's… He's not going to… oh my god, Ichigo you can't possibly…! _Toshirou was about to tell the strawberry to make a run for it himself and to leave him since he was the whole reason they were in this situation in the first place… and then he remembered that that would completely defeat the purpose of what Ichigo was about to do. Ichigo was prepared to walk out there and give himself up, just so that he would be safe and he couldn't help, but feel completely helpless about the whole thing… he still had his sword, but how much use would it be if he couldn't stay on his feet for more than a few seconds?

"I know someone's in there… better get out 'ere before I fill that bush there full of holes." One of the men shouted.

'Stay hidden' Ichigo silently mouthed as he took one last look in the direction of his lover and walked out into the clearing with his hands raised in surrender. Toshirou could hear both the men gasp as they recognized who exactly it was that was standing right in front of them.

"Wait…" One of the men muttered, scratching his head. "Tall… orange hair… you must be…"

"Ichigo… Ichigo Kurosaki." The other man finished.

The strawberry decided that the best course of action at this point would be to try and play it cool. "What's with all you idiots disturbing my afternoon nap, huh?"

Unfortunately, the men saw straight through Ichigo's lie and called him out instantly. "Hah, that's the best you could come up with?" One of them laughed as the other started walking towards the orange-haired teenager, who refused to move even an inch as the man got right into his face and right as Ichigo was positive that the one man that had walked towards him was about to attack him, the other man behind him yelled something that made him regretfully freeze.

"Just leave him for now… we have other, _more important matters_ to attend to…"

"But, he could have important information about the target. We've gotten reports of them being seen together recently." The man smirked as he looked back in the direction of his partner and it slightly unnerved Ichigo when both men started grinning madly.

"Well, this changes things then doesn't it?" The man further away from Ichigo called as he continued to smirk in the direction of his partner. "Try not to take too long…."

Now the one man left let out a low guffaw, "You heard the man, why don't we just get down to business then?"

"And by 'business' you mean…?" Ichigo asked, a bad feeling rising in the pit of his stomach.

"You of all people should know what I mean, Kurosaki." Not giving the orange-haired teenager any time to respond, he quickly brandished a small knife from his pocket swinging it quickly while aiming directly for Ichigo's chest. Luckily, the orange-haired teenager was used to this kind of tactic and his body reacted even before his brain had comprehended what was happening. He instantly jumped back, the blade missing his skin by mere inches.

"I see your abilities weren't all just talk…" the man muttered as he lunged in for another attack, but was pushed back when Ichigo turned his body slightly so as to avoid the knife, but still close the space between them and his fist connected solidly with the other man's face.

"Little fucker…" he muttered as he spit some blood onto the ground and either due to the fact that he was starting to get really pissed that the strawberry just seemed to be playing with him or he was just really that stupid, he once again charged in his opponent's direction. Ichigo easily avoided the obvious attack and was about to plant a firm kick square in the man's chest, when his opponent quickly ducked down, getting behind Ichigo and managed to aim a kick in the back of the strawberry's knees, forcing him down to the ground. Without so much as a second to waste, he aimed his dagger straight for Ichigo's throat and was confident that he had won. However, Ichigo was not planning on losing to a low life such as this guy and quickly rolled to the side so as to avoid the oncoming blade. _I think it's about time I got serious so I can finish this and get out of here without hopefully making too much more of a scene than I already have._ Ichigo was so involved with his fight that he didn't even notice when the other man that had been idly standing by watching them fight disappeared. Ichigo finally managed to disarm his enemy and stood up facing the man with the dagger raised and pointing straight at the man.

"Why don't you just admit you lost and get the fuck out of my sight before I kill you?" Ichigo sneered as he slowly surveyed his now unarmed adversary.

"You really think you've won just because you got my knife? You can't possibly think that that is the only weapon I have on me." The man called back as he pulled out a much longer knife from somewhere inside his large jacket. "This is just getting started, kid."

* * *

Toshirou found it was becoming harder and harder to remain conscious as he watched his boyfriend face off against one of the thugs that were obviously after him. It also wasn't helping that his head was starting to pound and with his particular history… that never led to anything good. The young genius wanted more than anything to be out there fighting side-by-side with his lover, but could only lie against the one of the larger tree trunks, peering through a thin spot in the trees hoping that Ichigo would just kill the man already so that they could just go home and forget about this whole ordeal.

Then a sudden ominous feeling swept over the young genius when he noticed the other man slip away silently into the background while his cohort and Ichigo continued their fight. The only reason that Toshirou would think that he would have to leave would probably be to alert the rest of the gang… but what would come from that? They weren't even sure that he was there… or at least he was hoping they didn't know. Toshirou's answer was answered suddenly as he felt a cold hand clamp over his mouth that he knew couldn't have belonged to Ichigo one, because Ichigo was still in the midst of his fight and two, there was no sense of comfort coming from the hand, just a sense of coldness.

"Finally found ya." A voice whispered from behind the small boy which made a shiver run down his spine. Toshirou's eyes widened in fear and tried to yell for Ichigo, but he was silenced by the hand that was currently covering his mouth. _I need to do something! I can't let all that Ichigo is doing go to waste just because I'm a little 'sore'… _Ideas and plans were rushing endlessly through the genius's mind as he debated on what course of action would be the most likely to lead to a successful escape; He knew he had to act when he felt himself being lifted and before the man that was holding him was able to utter a single word Toshirou lifted Hyorinmaru and plunged it's hilt into the man's chest, making him gasp and double over, releasing the young prodigy.

"Bastard…" the man grunted as he tried to catch his breath. Toshirou took this split-second opportunity and tried awkwardly to get to his feet as fast as he could before managing to weakly stumble out of his hiding place clutching Hyorinmaru feebly to his side while trying to get as far away from the man behind him as he could.

* * *

Ichigo had just managed to pin his opponent to the ground and was poised and ready to run the man through with his own dagger, when to his horror… he saw Toshirou stumble out of his hiding spot and attempt to walk in his direction. The strawberry could tell that the longer the young genius continued walking, the more he visibly began to waver on the spot.

Ichigo had been so surprised by the sudden appearance of his lover that he had totally forgotten he had been just about to finish off the man that he had had pinned to the ground and in the split second that he had looked away the man beneath him managed to wriggle free and stood up before the strawberry grinning madly.

"Well, what do we have here…?" The man continued grinning madly as he dusted off his clothes and wiped off some blood that had come out of his mouth and looked in the direction of the still wavering boy. "Looks like it's gonna be my lucky day after all." He laughed as he started walking towards Toshirou, who was still whole-heartedly trying to get away from the man that was luckily still in the bushes.

Ichigo, who had been pushed to the ground when the thug had managed to get free instantly shot up and placed himself in between his vulnerable lover and the pathetic excuse of a man that was trying to get to him. "Don't you dare touch him." The strawberry snarled as his body began to visibly tense.

"That's very touching, but you see with all our history an all, we've been contracted to collect him and we can't very well get paid if we don't deliver tha goods… not to mention we went through all the trouble of getting him ready for transport, we sure as hell can't stop now." Ichigo couldn't believe his ears… this man was talking about Toshirou like he was just an item to be passed around! The strawberry sure as hell wasn't ready to let that bastard get away with it.

"Why don't you just roll over dead already like the mindless thug that you are?" Ichigo hissed, his hatred for the man infuriating the strawberry even more.

Toshirou knew the consequences would be horrific if he did as he body and brain were begging to do and to let the darkness claim his mind; but then that would just make Ichigo's job that much harder and he just couldn't let that happen. He would fight for as long as his body would possibly let him.

It was at that very moment that all the tension was about to break when the second man who had tried in vain to secure the young genius, finally emerged from the shadows cursing loudly and consequentially drawing his partner's attention. "Get yer lazy ass over here, our target decided to show himself at long last!" The man nearest Ichigo yelled.

Ichigo seized the moment and luckily for him it came when it did, because he wasn't sure how much longer he would have been able to restrain himself. Ichigo knew that Toshirou wasn't going to be able to last much longer; he was already pushing his limits as is was and without a second thought Ichigo charged his sidetracked opponent and when said man finally saw what was about to happen, it was too late. Ichigo had already buried the borrowed blade into the man's chest all the way up to the hilt. The shocked man fell down to the ground in seemingly slow-motion, his eyes wide and mouth wide open with no sound coming out.

The one remaining thug in the clearing ran over towards his partner, while Ichigo retreated slowly from the scene before making his way back towards Toshirou. Relief swept through the smaller male as he saw Ichigo walking in his direction, but the relief was short lived as all the tension had drained from his system and was quickly replaced with a sudden flash of white hot pain in his head that made him feel like his skull was being crushed between two large, ragged rocks. All the young genius could do was clutch his head with his hands as he let out a small cry of pain as he finally lost the fight against his own consciousness and the world and everything around him, including the strawberry, faded into blackness.

"Toshirou!" Ichigo yelled frantically as he ran towards his pained lover, getting to Toshirou just in time for the young boy to fall limp into his arms. Ichigo proceeded to pick up the white-haired boy so that he was cradling him bridal style and started to run off in the direction of the Kurosaki household.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going with our property, Kurosaki!"

Ichigo froze for a quick moment ready to rip the man's heart out before taking a deep breath trying to calm himself down. _I can't lose my temper; it's what he wants..._ "I'm going to tell you one more time, so try and get it through your thick skulls… you will never get your grubby hands on Toshirou as long as I'm around."

The man sensing that Ichigo wasn't going to fall for his ploy, realized that he was quickly running out of options; pulled a small radio out of his pocket and started speaking into it as a huge smirk grew across his rough features. "I've found the kid and you won't believe who else we bumped into; seems like we might be able to hit two birds with one stone today. My position is quadrant 3, point 812. Requesting mobilization of all groups to current position."

_So much for slipping back into the shadows…_ Ichigo thought to himself as he glared back at the man who still had that annoyingly huge grin plastered across his features. A sudden pang a fear rushed through the strawberry's system when he heard yelling and shouting that couldn't have been any further away than a few hundred feet. At this point there was only one thing on Ichigo's mind and that was: '_Run!' _

"Oh no you don't" The man yelled when he saw the orange-haired teen get ready to make a break for it. "You need to stay and meet my friends…" The man laughed, but when Ichigo ignored him and started to run off, he started to speed off right after him while pulling out a small handgun he had been hiding which he aimed at the square of Ichigo's back. "Better say goodbye to your friend while you can." The man snickered to himself as he laughed and pulled the trigger.

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN! I'm really starting to have fun with these cliffhangers. ^^ As in the same with the last chapter, I _was_ originally planning on going a little further, but when I got to this point the cliffhanger was just waaaay too tempting to pass up. Please Review! Pretty pretty please with (insert favorite ice cream topping here) on top! :D  
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	9. What Happened

**A/N: First off, I wanted to apologize for taking so long to update again. I quite literally have two more days of classes then a week of finals, so I have had absolutely _no time_. I apologize if this isn't one of my best chapters, I really kinda rushed writing it and didn't look over it as much as I usually do so if you see any mistakes, I apologize. I just wanted to at least give you guys a little something now because with finals being next week (my stupid GHIST exam actually being this Saturday! -.-) I will probably not be able to do anything for at least a week or two. I want give a quick shout-out to all my reviewers, thanks so much for sticking with me! **

Disclaimer: I own Toshiro and Ichigo in my dreams! Unfortunately, that doesn't count... Everything Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.**  
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* * *

Chapter 8- What Happened

Ichigo had just reached the top of the hill and had thought for one glorious moment that he was able to get far enough away from the man behind them, but all hope dissolved when he heard the same man fire a small handgun in his direction. Under normal circumstances the strawberry would have no trouble dodging a single bullet; waiting for a fraction of a second before easily jumping out of the way, but at this particular moment he was in such a position that things were easier said than done.

Ichigo quickly decided the best he would be able to do at the moment would be to alter his path slightly by pushing off against to the ground in some direction, any direction, hoping that it would be enough to escape the impending bullet.

Without any warning the strawberry suddenly lost his footing and began to tumble down the other side of the hill only coming to a stop in the ditch at the bottom. Almost instantly Ichigo realized his small boyfriend was no longer securely in his arms and lifting his head he started to scan the area frantically trying to locate the young genius. After what felt like an eternity, Ichigo spotted a still figure about twenty feet away from him, instantly jumping up, but soon finding himself back on the ground almost instantly when a sharp pain shot through his side.

"What the-" Ichigo murmured as he pushed himself up into a kneeling position. Instinctively, Ichigo had placed one of his hands against his side where the pain originated and was still slightly burning, he quickly pulled it away and his eyes went wide when he realized what had caused him to lose his balance at the top of the hill. _Just fucking brilliant… _Ichigo thought to himself. Well, he _had_ been able to get out of the bullet's direct path… however, he hadn't been fortunate to get out of the way completely and the bullet had still managed to graze his side leaving him with a small gash around his hip. Ichigo's mind at this point was running at about a million miles per hour… what was he supposed to do now? That gang was still after Toshirou and now not only could Ichigo barely walk, but there was no way that he was going to be able to carry the white-haired boy all the back to his house without getting caught. _Comon Ichigo… think! What are my options…?_

The strawberry took a deep breath and despite the pain, he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled over to his unconscious lover. He couldn't help but feel guilty seeing a deep frown grow across his boyfriend's delicate features. He didn't waste another second before tenderly lifting Toshirou once again into his arms. The strawberry couldn't believe it… he had only been walking for a minute, but was already breathing as heavy as if he had just sprinted a mile. He didn't know if it was the adrenaline pumping through his system or even what was allowing him to keep on his feet for as long as he was, but he didn't question it, in fact he was quite thankful; though who knew how much longer it was going to last. _I need to find somewhere that we can lie low for awhile; there's no way I'm going to be able to make it back to my house like this._

Ichigo had been running for who knows how long and had been comforted by the silence of the forest, yet unnerved by the same silence from the boy currently lying still in his arms. He hadn't made a single sound since they had taken their unfortunate tumble down the first large hill. Ichigo began to slow his pace, being sure not to come to a complete stop because if he did there was no way that he would be able to get his body going again. As he slowed to a casual walk, Ichigo's eyes painstakingly scanned his surroundings attempting to find some sort of substantial cover. He could still hear faint voices of the men searching for them and was honestly surprised that they hadn't caught up to him yet; considering the fact that there was a huge group of them and Ichigo was running around by himself with one, his unconscious boyfriend in his arms and two, a bullet wound in his side. He had managed to avoid the men so far, but if he stayed out in the open for much longer none of that would matter.

Ichigo could feel his body reaching his limits and just when he had started to contemplate the worst, he saw a peculiarly shaped rock that was covered from head to foot in thick moss and other various types of greenery.

"What the-" The strawberry quickly approached and started to clear away the vines when he saw something that made his heart skip a beat. Once you got past all the vines and weeds and whatnot, there was what seemed like a rather large hole that a fairly slim person should be able to fit through. Ichigo ideally would have liked to make sure it was safe, but he knew that if he left Toshirou outside and unprotected that would be the very moment those men would find them. Ichigo crouched low so that he could slowly maneuver himself through the small opening, careful not to let any of his lover's head or legs knock against the uneven surface. The cave was so narrow Ichigo ended up having to attempt to walk while in a squatting position so as to keep from dragging Toshirou behind him.

To Ichigo's utter astonishment after only crawling for a few seconds the narrow tunnel opened up revealing a deceptively spacious cavern. The strawberry let out a huge and long overdue sigh of relief as he was able to stand up and stretch his aching legs, but he couldn't quite rest yet. There was still one thing that he had to do before he could let his exhaustion overtake him. Ichigo carefully laid Toshirou on the ground while taking off the jacket he had been wearing so that he could make it into a makeshift pillow for the small boy. Ichigo quickly crawled back through the tunnel and pulled a fairly large boulder to cover the entrance so as to keep the entrance to their new hiding place a secret.

The only thing left in Ichigo's mind at this point was sleep, so when he got back into their makeshift hiding spot the strawberry practically collapsed next to the still form of his lover. Before Ichigo let sleep completely take over his worn out body, he cautiously lifted Toshirou's head and placed it tenderly in his lap before ripping off a section of his shirt so that he could place it on the gash in his boyfriend's usually snow white hair. The wound in his own side has stopped bleeding for the most part, so he could always take care of it after he got some rest and the very last thing that crossed the strawberry's mind before he passed out was, _What exactly happened to you, Toshirou…?_

* * *

"_Awn, what's got our little toshi-kun so upset? Tell me and I promise we'll make it all better…"_

_Toshirou whirled around and before anyone could even say another word he had Hyorinmaru unsheathed and pointing at the still smirking face of none other than Kazuhara. In less than an instant Toshirou's entire body tensed and his sadness was promptly replaced with pure loathing. "It's nothing you need be concerned with." The furious prodigy hissed before adding, "I doubt your monkey sized brain would even be able to understand my situation anyway… you never have been able to before."_

"_Still haven't learned any respect have you, little one?" Kazuhara said as he waved his men down after they looked like they wanted to pound the kid in front of them. "Remember the plan men… he has to be taken alive." _

_Toshirou couldn't believe they were talking about him like he wasn't even here and like he didn't even have a choice in what was about to happen; but it wasn't really that much different than usual when Toshirou realized who exactly it was that was right in front of him. "You act like I'm going to come with you willingly… like that would ever happen…"_

_When Kazuhara continued to grin it made Toshirou's blood absolutely boil, the young prodigy didn't even know how it was possible to hold such hatred for a single individual. "Obviously you don't realize that you are vastly outnumbered, so detaining you will be no more than child's play."_

"_You wanna bet?" It was now Toshirou's turn to smirk as he pointed the tip of his blade right in Kazuhara's face._

_The leader simply laughed, "You actually think that you can take on all of my men by yourself?"_

"_It's not a question of if, but when, if you ask me." Toshirou replied, gritting his teeth in anticipation._

"_If that's what you want, then why don't we just see?" Kazuhara smirked as he snapped his fingers and the men behind him quickly surrounded Toshirou. Most of the men simply threw their heads back and laughed because they believed that there was no possible way they could lose._

_Toshirou could plainly see that he was at a huge disadvantage right from the off, but that had never stopped him before. If he could even out the numbers just slightly then he might have a chance; he was tired of running and the time had finally come for him to face these men and put an end to them once and for all._

_One of the men practically launched himself clumsily in Toshirou's direction. It was obvious that he had never fought against a swordsman because he charged Toshirou straight on and luckily for Toshirou, he had left his torso completely wide open. All his thoughts were currently concentrated on how best to pummel the kid in front of him as much as he could. Toshirou waited until the man was only a few feet away before quickly sidestepping the brute and thrusting the long steel blade of Hyorinmaru into the man's side, before quickly pulling out the scarlet covered steel. The prodigy just smirked as the man fell down, all signs of life disappearing before his body even hit the pavement. 'One down… lots more to go.' The white-haired boy thought to himself as the men around him started to retreat a few feet out of the range of his sword. _

"_Who's next?" The prodigy smirked as he could see the growing fear in the men's eyes; there was no doubt that they were simple minded, but even they realized what had just happened before their eyes._

"_Cowards! All of you!" Kazuhara yelled from behind the mob. "If you spineless babies can't take on one little brat with a sword then none of you deserve to be in this gang… and you know what we do to people who leave the gang!" That threat seemed to be the kick that the thugs needed and it quickly became apparent now that their lives were on the line, fighting clean just wasn't going to cut it. _

"_Comon men!" One of the thugs yelled._

"_It's just one stupid brat, if we all charge 'im at the same time there's no way he can get all of us!" Another one yelled._

"_Yea!" The rest yelled in agreement as they all started to charge madly in Toshirou's direction._

_The smaller male took a deep breath and only hoped that all his years of fighting on the streets had prepared him enough so that he would be able to get out of this alive. If this had happened a few weeks ago, Toshirou probably would have given into the inevitable defeat; but now he had something, or rather someone to fight for and he wasn't going to go down without putting everything he had into it._

_Kazuhara would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed by the kid's fighting abilities; they had improved a great deal over the years… but that didn't mean it would be enough to get him out of this. The man's smile slightly faltered when Toshirou had started to even the odd. It wasn't soon before Toshirou had managed to defeat every single one of his men. "Guess I'm gonna have to bring out the big guns, the brat is more trouble with that darn sword that I originally thought…" He muttered to himself._

"_Sano!" He yelled before quietly muttering, "This has been fun, but it's about time we were on our way."_

_Said man emerged from the shadows behind Kazuhara and nodded before striding over towards the clearly winded white-haired boy. By this time Toshirou was breathing hard and forced to rely considerably on the sword at his side for support. As he saw Sano making his grand appearance he managed to take a deep breath and stood up as straight as he could to face the man currently walking towards him._

"_So I guess you haven't lost enough men then yet, Kazuhara?" Toshirou growled as the tall man continued to approach him._

"_I wouldn't be so sure of that dear Toshi-kun. I think you will find that Sano is on a completely different level from the trash that you just fought. It would take at least ten of those worthless thugs to even put a scratch on Sano right here… he isn't my right-hand man just for looks._

_Sano was mere feet away from the white-haired boy now, causing his whole body to tense as he held his sword up once again, pointing it directly at his opponent's chest. Everything around the two seemed to freeze as Sano simply smirked as Toshirou's eyes refused to leave the taller male for even a second, because if he did then a second would be all the man would need to get past Toshirou's defenses._

'_What is he waiting for?' Toshirou thought to himself as he continued to stare down the man in front of him, waiting for a finger to twitch, a muscle to tense, something that would indicate that the towering figure before him was going to do something._

"_What are you waiting for…?" Toshirou hissed._

_Sano simply laughed before replying, "You'll see." _

_An uneasy feeling instantly washed over Toshirou as he started to contemplate the hidden meaning he knew was just waiting for him to try and figure it out until it was too late. _

"_Why don't you ju-" Toshirou began to say before he suddenly felt something of considerable size and weight quickly make contact with the back of his head. The young prodigy barely had enough time to stare at the man in front of him, who had as of yet refused to move a single muscle. 'But… how…?' Toshirou thought dazed, as he fell down to the ground unable to fight off the blackness that quickly overcame him._

"_Though, sometimes you are useful for distractions…" Kazuhara snorted in the direction of his partner as he carelessly stepped over Toshirou's prone figure. Sano's face stayed blank, free of any emotions whatsoever as he watched his partner continue to stroll out of the alleyway as if nothing had happened and when Kazuhara noticed that his much more built partner had yet to follow him he yelled over his shoulder in a bored tone. "Let's not waste anymore time, we are already behind schedule as is."_

_Sano reached down to grab the limp body of the young genius before carelessly throwing him over his shoulder and walking off in the direction Kazuhara had disappeared in._

* * *

"_What are we doin' here?" _

"_You need to learn to be patient, brother."_

_Toshirou could hear voices coming from above him, but the more he tried concentrating on what they were saying the more muffled they seemed to become. 'Where am I?' the young boy thought to himself before realizing what had happened before he had lost consciousness. 'I was fighting Kazuhara... well, really just his flunkies…' The only thing Toshirou remembered was being rooted to the spot as Sano walked toward him before stopping mere feet in front of the boy. Then… nothing… _

"_But why here?" The original voice asked again._

"_I've already told you about a million times… I was told to bring the boy here." The second voice replied clearly irritated._

_Finally, Toshirou was able to recognize the voices above him and that slight piece of information didn't comfort him in the least bit, in fact it just made the situation all that more bleak. Should he try and make a run for it? Should he just continue to pretend as if he was still unconscious? What exactly did they have planned for him? So many questions were running through Toshirou's head, but he finally decided he would have to risk them realizing he was conscious to try and figure out where he was._

_The genius took a silent breath and cracked open his bright teal eyes ever so slightly; he couldn't really make out anything really significant, just lots and lots of trees. The small male quickly shut his eyes and was on the edge of panicking when he realized something he hadn't before. The sound of water… and not just flowing water, but the rushing and crashing sounds what could only be a large waterfall somewhere behind him._

"_So, what are we going to do if the brat wakes up before our erm- associate gets here?"_

_Toshirou heard an exasperated sigh. "After everything we've been through you continue to doubt me…"_

_A loud groan, "That's not it; I just don't see how this is going to get us anywhere…" _

_Sano was cutoff when there was a loud rustling from the trees nearby. Instantly, Kazuhara stepped forward so that he was in front of where Toshirou was currently lying as he waved for Sano to keep an eye on the boy. They had simply gone through way too much to lose the troublesome genius now._

"_Who's there?" Kazuhara demanded as he pulled out a silver revolver from inside his jacket pointing it blindly in the direction from where the sound had come._

"_W-wait…! Kazu, don't shoot man!"Someone yelled as they emerged from the trees. "We saw the scene in the alley and thought you might need some more back-up…" Right as the male finished his sentence a whole group of men began to pile out of the trees behind him._

"_Well, as you can see," Kazuhara said as he stepped to the side to reveal the seemingly unconscious Toshirou. "We have everything taken care of."_

_From Toshirou's perspective, things were going exponentially downhill rather fast. 'I need to somehow wait until at least some of their attention is off me, so I can hopefully get, if only a split second to try and make a run for it. Unfortunately, time was not exactly on the young male's side and every minute that passed, became a minute closer to his potential end._

"_What's that over there?" One of the men asked gruffly as he pointed toward Hyorinmaru, which had been carelessly thrown to the side when Sano had dropped Toshirou._

"_Just the kid's most prized possession…" Kazuhara replied, while trying to muffle a slight laugh as he turned his head slightly to glance in the direction of the discarded blade._

"_And why exactly did we bring __**his weapon**__ with us?" _

"_The boss says that he wants the entire collection… I don't know." Kazuhara shrugged "But as you can see, he's in no condition to use it right now."_

_Right then, Toshirou thanked his lucky star that they had been foolish enough to bring Hyorinmaru along with them. That meant that all hope wasn't lost after all. 'If I can just __**get**__ to it…' the young white-haired male thought to himself. _

"_So…." Another one of the men started, "What now…?" The men all shrugged amongst themselves. Some men just wandered off, while some talked amongst themselves._

"_Now, I b-believe it's about time for m-me to go." Toshirou said as loud and as bold as he could, while attempting to rise to his feet as fast as possible._

_The effect was instantaneous; all the men that still gathered started shouting, while Kazuhara quickly drew his silver revolver from his jacket again. Sano stood motionless, not have been given any orders by his brother yet. Without a word Toshirou attempted to run towards where he sword was currently lying and was able to make it a total of about four steps before his legs gave out and his head currently felt as though someone had driven a spike through his skull and was hammering on it relentlessly. Toshirou quickly clutched his head reflexively, but remembering the situation he was it he was able to grab onto the hilt of Hyorinmaru with one hand and slowly bring the blade up in front of him as he tried to pull himself into a sitting position._

"_Comon, Kazu! Just shoot the damn brat and be done with him!" One man shouted._

"_Yea! Why can't we just kill him?" Another one bellowed. Murmurs of agreement broke out again in the group currently crowded around the heavily breathing white-haired boy._

"_He must be delivered to the boss alive… he would have all our heads if the boy was killed in transport." _

"_So what u-use is a gun if you c-can't shoot me?" Toshirou grunted, keeping his sword raised as he tried to rise slowly to his feet, while still gingerly holding his head with one hand._

"_Oh, lil' Toshi-kun... you seem to forget that I can always shoot you somewhere that won't end up being fatal." Kazuhara grinned as he aimed his gun right in the white-haired boy's direction. "For example, why don't we just shoot one of those pesky legs, eh?" _

_Toshirou simply stared at the man before him with a look of unrestrained fear; sure these thugs had spent almost the entirety of his life using him as their personal punching bag and other things that he'd rather not think about right now… but they had never gone so far as to threaten him so blatantly as they were doing at that very moment. He knew his options were quickly running thin and if there was going to be any chance of him getting out of this alive, he was going to have to do something fast. In the heat of the moment his genius brain could only come up with one plan and he didn't like it at all. _

"_Sorry, but that wouldn't really help my escape, so I think I'll pass this time." Toshirou replied as coolly as possible as he started to walk backwards towards the waterfall he had heard as he had woken up._

"_And where do you think you're going? If you hadn't noticed, there's nowhere left for you to run." _

"_Nowhere except for down." Toshirou grinned slightly, before quickly sheathing his blade, holding it close to his chest, taking a deep breath and jumping off the edge of the cliff they had been on before Kazuhara even had a chance to get a shot off._

* * *

**A/N: Sooo... a cliffie, but not really! You guys know pretty much what happens next! I promise there will definitely be lots of IchiHitsu fluffy goodness in the next chapter! *dances around excitedly* Pleasseee Review! Free hugs with every review? :D Till next time!**_  
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	10. Complications

**A/N: Wow, so I'm really sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I know I said I'm out of college for the summer and would have more time to update, but I've spent the last two weeks doing two different tournaments which were both like a week and I thought I would have a little time to work on my stories, but I really had_ no_ free time. Also, my computer suffered an unfortunate accident and the little hinge that allows the screen to open and close got fucked up... my laptop still works, but its kinda temperamental now. After all that is said and done and because I felt so bad for leaving this alone for such a long time, I decided to give you guys the longest chapter so far in the story! Hope you enjoy and thank you to all my readers and reviewers! I love you all. :D**

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine... *sigh***  
**

* * *

Chapter 9- Complications

Ichigo wasn't sure how long he had been sleeping, what time it was or even if it was night or day; but the important thing was that both he and Toshirou were still alone in the cave, meaning that the gang hadn't been able to find them and for that Ichigo was eternally grateful.

The strawberry rubbed his eyes sleepily and tried to stretch out his neck; falling asleep on a cave wall with his head leaning back at an odd angle had not been the most opportune way to go to sleep and he was definitely starting to regret it. He quickly forgot his slight agitation when he happened to look down to see his boyfriend sleeping almost peacefully using his lap as a pillow. Ichigo's attention was drawn almost instantly to the small piece of cloth he had ripped off his shirt before falling asleep. It was, as expected soaked in blood, but from what Ichigo could see it seemed almost dry and hopefully that meant that the gash on his lover's head had finally stopped bleeding.

As sore as the strawberry was at the moment and as much as he wanted to get up and stretch his aching limbs, he didn't want to risk waking the slumbering boy in his lap or even making him any more uncomfortable than he might already be. There was also the issue of having been grazed by a bullet himself… _ Just brilliant…_ Ichigo sighed as he stayed sitting where he was, proceeding to once again lean his head back against the side of the cave while absentmindedly running his hand through the part of his boyfriend's hair that wasn't currently stained red. _What am I supposed to do now?_ The strawberry thought dismissively. _We can't just hide in here forever…_

Ichigo's mind had begun drifting off, wondering if anyone was looking for them or if anyone had even noticed their absence, when a small groan suddenly filled the small cavern and the previously still figure in Ichigo's lap began to stir slightly.

"Shirou…?" The strawberry whispered cautiously as the boy continued to come around slowly. Ichigo waited for some sort of sign that Toshirou had heard him, but when he received none he tried again to rouse the boy by gently shaking his shoulder. Another groan came from the body below Ichigo and eventually his small boyfriend's beautiful teal eyes opened slowly. "Hey babe, welcome back."

"Ugh…" Toshirou muttered as he slightly moved his head so that he could look up into the face of the anxious strawberry above him. Toshirou wasn't really sure what to think at the moment… he wasn't sure where he was what time it was or even what had happened… which raised the question as to what they were doing in a…. well he wasn't exactly sure where it was they were either.

"Ichi…go?" Toshirou muttered quietly.

"I'm here, what's up?" Ichigo asked just as quietly, as he attempted to pull his small lover into a semi sitting position in his lap.

"W-What's going on?" The young genius inquired, he didn't much like being in a situation where he was lacking information; he was just one of those people who always liked knowing what was going on. "What happened?" he asked as he continued to bombard the strawberry with questions. "Where in the world are we…? What happened to those thugs? What day is it? How long have I been out?"

Ichigo merely let out a small laugh which instantly made the white-haired boy scowl back up at him. _At least he's acting more like himself… so I guess that means he's feeling okay?" _The strawberry thought as his boyfriend continued to pout, looking cuter every second he did so.

"Calm down, Shirou." The orange-haired teenager replied, trying to keep his voice calm while also attempting to muffle his slight chuckles. "I'll tell you what happened as long as you promise not to freak out."

Toshirou wasn't sure he liked the sound of that; it seemed as though Ichigo was attempting to hide something from him and that wasn't going to happen as long as he was around. "What's going on, Ichigo?" The young genius grunted.

Ichigo decided to play it safe, not wanting to startle the young boy in his lap with anything he didn't absolutely have to know. "Uh…" Ichigo hesitated as he began to rub the back of his head nervously. "How much do you, ya know… remember?"

Toshirou was about to reply with some sort of snappy comeback about the strawberry thinking he was stupid when something strange occurred to him. "I-It's all really fuzzy… I don't know…" The boy sighed before attempting to concentrate really hard on what had happened right before he had passed out. Very, very, slowly things were starting to come back to him. _Kazuhara. Woods. Hiding. Exhaustion. Desperation. Ichigo. Pain. Silence. Nothing._

"It's kinda a-a… blur. I can only recall little pieces, like escaping those guys and then, finding you… then I remember… uhh…" Toshirou hesitated as he kept trying to recall any memories he could fish out of his large brain which was acting more like a prison at the moment. His brain seemed to be locking up all his memories so that he couldn't piece everything together in order to figure out what had happened… it was unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life. Toshirou scratched his head as he closed his eyes in an attempt to better reclaim his memories of the previous day. "I remember finding you… then, you were uh, fighting one of the guys, but the other one snuck away and surprised me… I remember thinking that I had to get away…" Suddenly Toshirou let out a surprised gasp before bringing one of his hands up to his head.

"What's wrong Toshirou?" Ichigo asked quickly.

"A white hot flash of pain… I-It felt as though my head was being split in two." Toshirou managed to lock his gaze with the strawberry before frowning and lowering his gaze a second later. "After that all I remember is being swallowed completely by darkness…"

Ichigo quickly silenced the white-haired boy in his lap. "Well, it's all over now, so don't push yourself, okay?" The strawberry whispered encouragingly into his lover's ear.

"Yea, I guess… but what do we do now?" Toshirou asked as he let his head lay back against Ichigo's chest while taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

The teenager above him let out a nervous laugh as he started to scratch his head. "You know I was just wondering that myself. Though I think our top priority should be to get your head checked out, which involves us getting to either a hospital or even just back to my house."

"Okay and the problem with that plan is…?"

"Well… do you think you can, uh- make it?" Ichigo asked quietly.

Toshirou quickly let out an annoyed growl as he pushed himself out of Ichigo's grasp and slowly got to his feet; the cloth that had previously been resting on his head falling to the ground. "I'm not a child, Ichigo…"

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Whatever, let's just get out of here. I've never been a fan of small places…" Toshirou sighed and then just as he was about to turn around and try to find an exit something caught at the corner of his eye.

"Ichigo!" Toshirou yelled in surprise, catching the strawberry off-guard and causing him to jump slightly.

"What?" Ichigo practically yelled back.

"What happened to your side? Why is it covered in blood? Is that mine or…?"

"Toshirou… just relax, okay?" The strawberry stumbled slightly, caught off-guard by the sudden outburst.

"How exactly do you suggest I relax when you've got that damn slash in your side?" Toshirou continued to shout while ignoring Ichigo's continued failed attempts to calm his distressed lover down.

Ichigo managed to pull himself onto his feet and quickly took a step over to where Toshirou was standing before quickly enveloping the younger male in a tender hug; Toshirou struggled at first, but soon realized it useless and gave in.

"Would it make you feel better if I say that I'm going to have my dad take a look at it when we get home?" Ichigo said softly with his mouth practically touching the smaller's ear.

"Better late than never I suppose…" Toshirou muttered as he regretfully pulled away from the orange-haired teenager. "Comon… the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get that looked at."

"Are you sure you're feeling up to walking all the way back to my place?" Ichigo now the one worried about the other.

"Don't even start, Ichigo…" Toshirou growled as he turned away from the taller boy and proceeded to walk in the direction opposite of said boy. Ichigo merely shrugged before following the already exiting white-haired teenager.

* * *

Rangiku was walking along the busy streets of Karakura wondering where in the world her two friends had disappeared off to. She had spoken with Ichigo merely a day ago, but when neither the strawberry nor Toshirou showed up for school the next day she couldn't help but wonder. It was understandable that Toshirou wasn't at school because he didn't have any exams for another day, but for Ichigo to not show up… that was unexpected. The strawberry blonde had tried to call the strawberry's cellphone, but she went straight to voicemail every time. She really hoped that this didn't have something to do with the brief fight the two had had the day before, but she couldn't think of any other reasons, so in the end she decided to go check on things after school the next day.

As she approached the Kurosaki household nothing seemed out of the ordinary; there didn't seem to be any shouting coming from inside which hopefully meant that Ichigo and Toshirou had at least made up. The girl lightly knocked on the front door and was slightly surprised when it practically flew open revealing the youngest member of the Kurosaki family, Yuzu. The young face that had been so full of relief and happiness a second ago quickly faded when Yuzu realized that the person at the door had not been whom she had originally thought.

"It's not him dad!" She yelled as she quickly retreated from the doorway and it wasn't long before the other Kurosaki female took her place.

"Sorry 'bout that Rangiku, Yuzu just thought it was Ichigo… don't take it personally." Karin shrugged as she gestured to Rangiku to come in. "What are you doing here though? Did Ichigo ask you to come here or something?"

The strawberry blond shook her head, "No, actually I was wondering if either Ichigo or Toshirou were here… I just had a quick question for them."

"Sorry Rangiku, but we haven't seen either Toshirou or Ichigo since yesterday morning before school." Karin said a hint of concern in her voice.

"Oh, okay… thanks any-" Rangiku had started to say as she began to turn to leave before something Karin had said made her take a double take. "Wait… you said you haven't seen either of them since yesterday _morning_?"

Karin nodded. "Yea."

"That can't be right…" Rangiku said as she shook her head. "Toshirou ran off from school right after our first exam and then Ichigo was supposed to come back here after school to make sure that Toshirou made it home okay…"

"That's weird." Karin said as she invited the older female into the house and shortly after running into the living room shouting for her father. Before Rangiku even knew what had happened Isshin Kurosaki appeared in the hallway with a serious look on his face.

"It's nice to see you again Rangiku, though part of me wishes we were meeting again under less stressful circumstances." Isshin said as he greeted the strawberry blond woman and ushered her back into the living room where Yuzu was already firmly planted in one of the chairs closest to the phone just in-case Ichigo happened to call. "Feel free to take a seat anywhere you like." The elder Kurosaki said as he motioned to the various seating options in the room.

"What's going on?" Rangiku wasted no time in asking as she sat down on the recliner next to the couch that Isshin had decided to situate himself on.

"We really don't know any more than you at this point…" Isshin said as he shook his head. "Ichigo didn't say anything about doing anything after school… in fact I actually remember him saying something about asking me to go to the store later to get some more food… I think he wanted to put together a special dinner for him and Toshirou as a thank you for the help with his math final…"

"Something has to be up then…" Rangiku muttered. Isshin was about to say something when he was cut-off by his eldest daughter.

"So what are you guys waiting for then?" Karin almost yelled as she practically jumped off the couch. She didn't really know Toshirou all that well, but she knew that he was an extremely important person in her brother's life and that meant that she wanted to make sure that both boys made it home safely.

"Karin, we can't just go running around town looking blindly for Ichigo…" Isshin said firmly as he stood up and placed a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"We need a plan." Rangiku added as Karin, Isshin and Rangiku gathered around the table trying to figure out the best course of action that would hopefully result in finding the two teenagers in question.

"I guess we better get busy then." Karin agreed.

* * *

"Gosh, I can't wait until we get back home… I'm starving!" Ichigo whined as the pair finally emerged from the dark cave they had been taking refuge in.

"After all that has happened… you decide to worry about your stomach" Toshirou replied, his voice layered with sarcasm.

"Ah comon Toshirou! I'm just trying to lighten the mood, ya know?" Ichigo laughed as he saw Toshirou's face considerably ease. Things stayed silent for a few moments as the two teenagers continued trying to navigate the expansive park before Ichigo noticed that the longer they seemed to walk the more Toshirou seemed to fall behind.

"Toshirou…? Are you sure you're feeling okay? We take a break… or I could just carry you the rest of the way home…" Ichigo asked as both he and the white-haired boy came to an uneasy stop.

"Do you have any… painkillers?" Toshirou mumbled softly which caused a slight pang of fear to rise in the pit of the strawberry's stomach. _It's gotta be his head again… and if he's willing to actually ask for some painkillers then the pain has to be pretty bad._

"Sorry Shirou… I don't." Ichigo replied sadly before suggesting, "Why don't you try and lay down and we can try and wait for it to pass?"

"No…" The young genius groaned. "The sooner we get back the better…" He couldn't deny that his head was really beginning to hurt like hell. When he first woke up it hadn't been that bad and he had been hoping that he would just be able power through the pain like usual, but ever since they had left the cave, the pain had been continually building for what seemed like every passing second and it was starting to get dangerously close to the point it had been before he had passed out earlier. The young genius was determined to not let it reach that point again if had anything to say about it; if more for Ichigo's sake than his own. The pair started walking again much to the dismay of the strawberry; he hoped that they would be able to find their way home soon.

The moments ticked by and Ichigo noticed that Toshirou was clutching his head less often and this logically would normally mean that the pain was lessening… if he was dealing with anyone other than Toshirou Hitsugaya. He had only been with the smaller male for a very short time, but there were still a few things that he knew for absolute certain and one of those concrete truths he had the pleasure of learning was that Toshirou happened to just be one of those people that would _not_, unless seriously confronted about it, reveal his true feelings in certain situations; situations exactly like the one they were in right now. Then, as if to solidify Ichigo's argument even more, as if it was needed, he quickly realized that Toshirou had suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Okay, we are not moving another foot until you tell me exactly how bad your head is hurting." Ichigo said firmly as he turned around to face his white-haired boyfriend. "What if it's something serious and not just the usual headache…?" Seeing the look on the younger boys face Ichigo decided to add, "If you don't want to go to the hospital then you have to at least let my dad take a look at you when we get back to my place."

Toshirou remained silent and did nothing to show that he had even heard anything that the strawberry had just said. In the heat of the moment, Ichigo thought that he was simply being stubborn and so this did nothing except for to egg the strawberry on even more.

"Toshirou!" Ichigo yelled which made said male cringe for reasons other than the fact that Ichigo was almost to the point of screaming. "Why can't you just realize that you don't always have to do everything yourself, huh?"

This time the person in question managed to breathe something, but in his frenzied state Ichigo wasn't even in a position to try and figure out what was going on.

"What was that?" Ichigo replied so coldly that the second it left his lips he instantly regretted being so harsh.

At this point Toshirou had sunk to his knees and was leaning heavily on a large, oddly shaped rock to his immediate left. He motioned feebly for Ichigo to come closer and when the strawberry did so he muttered a very quick, "Stop…"

Unfortunately, now Ichigo's mouth happened to be practically inches from Toshirou's ears and when he began shouting again the young genius did something Ichigo was not expecting at all from the situation; Toshirou broke out into painful sobs clutching the rock like a lifeline that was about snap. "Please…! S-Stop… m-mh head… y-yelling… I c-can't…"

In less than a millionth of a second, Ichigo realized too late his mistake and his entire demeanor changed; his hands were no longer balled into fists, shoulders no longer hunched at an almost painful angle and his face was no longer contorted in fury. Seeing his small boyfriend so vulnerable and defenseless in-front of him, it made his heart ache and all that anger that had been building up inside him, threatening to explode out of him, instantly melted away and he cautiously placed a small kiss upon the sobbing white-haired boy's damp face.

"Ichi…go…" Toshirou said quietly in between the sobs that were currently wracking his small form.

"I'm here… I'm sorry…" The strawberry looked down, feeling guilty for being partly responsible for his lover's pain while still determined to make it up to him. "I'm sorry I blew up at you…" Ichigo muttered again. His voice was truly sincere and all his anger had spawned from a simple misunderstanding, but that didn't seem to make the strawberry feel any less guilty for being so ignorant about what had really been happening. "I…I just want what's best for you… ya know?"

"S'kay…" Toshirou's responses seemed to be getting shorter and shorter as time went on and that could only mean one thing…

Ichigo very carefully gathered the boy into his arms attempting to not jostle or jiggle him too much and inadvertently cause him more pain than he was already in. Though, despite all of the strawberry's best efforts Toshirou's tears continued to flow without any end in sight.

"Shhh…" Ichigo whispered comfortingly as he continued to hug the small trembling form to his chest not wanting to do anything else in fear that he would further increase his lover's pain.

"B-But… Ichi it h-hurts…" Toshirou mumbled as he gratefully went limp against the strong embrace of the strawberry. He simply lay with his head curled against Ichigo's now soaked shirt hoping that he could slip into some sort of sleep and be granted a brief relief from the unrelenting pain. Anything was better than what he was facing right now, but it seemed that like when he needed it most was the very time that sleep decided to elude him.

"I know…" Ichigo replied dejectedly. He wished that there was something, anything that he could do that would help relive the young white-haired boy's pain. He hated seeing Toshirou like this and he was about to promise himself that he would never again feel so useless as to be unable to help Toshirou when he realized that he had already made that same promise and by the looks of things he had done such a brilliant job at keeping it… "Why don't you just try and go to sleep?" Ichigo suggested hopefully.

"Too much… c-can't…" Toshirou sniffed again.

"Okay, just don't talk and see if you can try and drift off." Ichigo replied comfortingly as he started to wipe away the ever flowing tears streaking the young boy's pale face. _What the hell am I supposed to do…? _Ichigo thought to himself as he could only continue to whisper comforting words into the smaller's ear. _I wonder if anyone is trying to find us… we could sure use some help right now…_

* * *

Isshin and Rangiku had been fervently wracking their brains for what seemed like forever trying to figure out how they were going to find the two currently missing teenagers. Rangiku was currently on the phone with anyone and everyone that she could think of trying to see if anyone had heard from or seen either Ichigo or Toshirou because if they found one then they would almost undoubtedly find the other.

So far however, they hadn't really had much luck with anyone seeing Toshirou after he had run off after lunch and then after school, Ichigo had seemed to just drop of the face of the planet as well.

"This isn't getting us anywhere." Karin complained as she watched the strawberry blonde and her father continue to attempt to formulate a plan without making any actual progress or get any closer to finding either Toshirou or her older brother.

"I hate to admit it Mr. Kurosaki, but I think your daughter is right…" Rangiku sighed as he hung up the phone for what had to of been the hundredth time.

The elder Kurosaki laughed before replying, "Just Isshin will do, Rangiku." He laughed again before walking over to where Karin was still standing with a scowl on her face. "Karin why don't you go help your sister up to bed while Rangiku and I try and discuss what to do next."

"Why can't I help?" Karin exploded as she crossed her arms, glared up at her father while continuing to pout. "Ichigo's my brother too you know! I want to help find him and Toshirou!"

"Karin," Isshin said calmly as he placed a comforting hand on his irritated daughter's shoulder. "You need to calm down; you're going to wake up your sister." Karin said nothing so Isshin took this as a cue to continue. "It's not that we don't need your help… it's just that we need you here to be with Yuzu. She is extremely distressed right now and needs her older sister to be there for her and not gallivanting around town with her father trying to find her brother."

"But-" Karin tried to protest, however Isshin quickly stopped her in her tracks.

"No arguments." He stated firmly. "Go help your sister up to bed, she's been sleeping on the couch most of the night anyway and both you girls need to try and at least get a few hours of sleep. Rangiku and I are going to try and figure out what to do from here and we'll be sure to keep in mind what you've said."

Karin still looked like she wanted to protest, but she knew it would do no good. Her dad was right in his own crazy way… Yuzu was in a very fragile state of mind right now with everything that had been going on and the youngest member of the Kurosaki family desperately needed support from her older sister. "Fine…" she muttered as she walked out of the room towards the living room where she knew she would find her slumbering sister.

As soon as Karin left the room, Isshin turned to face Rangiku who had remained silent during the brief argument between Isshin and his hard-headed daughter. "There is no doubt that we need to rethink our strategy… I was hoping that we could at least get some idea as to where we might want to look, but it seems that time isn't exactly on our side right now…" Isshin finished as he shook his head.

"Guess we might as well just go out and look for them…" Rangiku sighed as she began to collect her various belongings that had been strewn throughout the room while they had been trying to formulate a plan while also trying to locate the two missing teenagers.

Both Isshin and Rangiku said nothing to each other and simply stared blankly at each other until Karin finally made her way back into the room after helping Yuzu finally get to bed despite the fact she had been already sleeping for hours.

"So...?" Karin asked expectantly as she approached the two people in the room that were still deep in thought. "What's the plan?"

"First of all, _you_ are going to stay here." Isshin said sternly as his gaze drifted towards the black haired girl. Karin groaned, but she had expected this.

"Okay well, let me rephrase that question… what are you guys going to do?" Rangiku had so far been silent, but this was where she decided to break it.

"We don't have much else to do than to just go out and look for them."

"Good." Karin finally smiled as she turned to walk back towards her room. "I'm counting on you guys to find them and bring them back, okay?"

Rangiku smiled. "You can count on it."

* * *

Rangiku and Isshin had been looking everywhere they had though that the couple might be, but so far they had had no luck.

"Where else could we look that we haven't yet?" Rangiku voiced as they continued walking through the deserted streets of Karakura.

"Rangiku, why don't you go home and get some rest before school? You still have exams that you have to worry about and I don't want you to sacrifice your grades because of my idiotic son." Isshin insisted as he noticed Rangiku had been walking much slower and seemed much more sluggish than usual.

"No, it's fine… I can make it." Rangiku muttered in a low voice.

"Rangiku, I insist. I can keep looking and I promise that I will let you know the second I find them." Isshin had already felt guilty enough for keeping Rangiku up all night even when she had exams the next day.

"Toshirou ran off towards his place the other day… that being said… he might have gone through Karakura Park…" Rangiku muttered slowly as she tried to make her brain function so early in the morning after not getting even a wink of sleep the night before. "We haven't checked there yet, right?" She asked hopefully.

"Why don't we do this…" Isshin started, "I'll go check out Karakura Park and I want you to go back home and try and get an hour or so of sleep before go to school to take your exams. Then, if I haven't found them by then and you don't have any other exams to study for… then and only then can you come back and help me look." There really was no arguing with Isshin Kurosaki when he wanted something done. Rangiku was pretty sure that was where Ichigo got his drive and determination from. Isshin always seemed to have such a way with words which allowed him to convince almost anyone to do what he wanted. It might have had something to do with his brief background in medicine or the fact that not only did he raise a hot headed teenage son, and a very outspoken daughter, but also a soft-spoken and delightful daughter. So, it was an understatement to say that the eldest Kurosaki certainly had experience dealing will all different types of personalities.

As much as Rangiku wanted to help Isshin locate Toshirou and Ichigo, she couldn't deny that she was completely and utterly exhausted. She wasn't sure what good she would do even now, so maybe it was for the best to just take a break and come back when she was fully rested and fed. "Okay, you win… If I don't hear anything by the time I'm done with my exams I'm coming right back. I did promise Karin that I would help you find them."

"You've helped more than you can realize, Rangiku. Now, go get some rest." Isshin said as he shooed the worn out strawberry blonde away, making sure that she was actually going to leave and do as she had said. "Have a good nap and I'll go check out Karakura Park."

"Thanks." Rangiku smiled gratefully.

Isshin headed off in the direction of Karakura Park when he finally saw that the strawberry blonde had at last with much hesitance headed off in the direction of her home, but she had not parted ways before programming her number into Isshin's phone to make sure that he would keep her updated despite the fact that she was leaving. Isshin wasn't really sure what to expect, but he just had a feeling that given time and enough effort he would be again reunited with his son and his son's petite boyfriend.

* * *

Time seemed frozen as Ichigo sat in the middle of no-where clutching his ailing lover closely; he wanted Toshirou to know that through the intense pain that hadn't yet seemed to lessen, he would be there for him and that never again would he have to suffer by himself. Without Toshirou's brain to guide them, they were as good as lost and Ichigo wouldn't risk leaving the small boy alone to go out and attempt to find help or even get an idea of where they could be. Karakura Park was a deceptively small forest and although it dwarfed in comparison to nearby forests, everything looked the same everywhere you went and because of that, people were constantly getting lost in its plethora of natural mazes.

A particularly loud whimper pulled the strawberry from his thoughts and he looked down to see fresh tears rolling down Toshirou's pale features. The sight alone made Ichigo want to cry himself, but he knew that that would do no good except to comfirm in the young genius's mind that Ichigo had at last admitted defeat and resigned himself to their unfortunate situation.

"Shhh…" Ichigo whispered as he tried unsuccessfully to console the pale boy in his arms by gently running his fingers through the smaller's white locks. Toshirou didn't respond or do anything in particular to acknowledge the strawberry except to fidget slightly in Ichigo's lap as to try and get into a more comfortable position. _How are we possibly going to make it out of this…? _Ichigo thought glumly as he stared into the vast forest hoping that help would somehow find its way to them.

* * *

Isshin was starting to lose hope that he would find the two missing boys after he had been running around Karakura Park for who knew how long. He was breathing heavily and his legs felt like they wanted to just collapse any moment, but that was just not an option right now. _Okay… what are my options…? _Isshin began thinking to himself; _I've already asked everyone I've met if they have seen either Ichigo or Toshirou, but no luck there…_ _Should I try and look somewhere else…? But Rangiku did say that this was the one place that they would most likely be…_

After a few minutes, Isshin decided that he would continue looking in the park for just a little while longer. There was just something about the whole situation that didn't seem right and there was a part of him that didn't want to leave the park until he found the two teenagers he had been looking for, but that was just natural when a parent was searching for his child, right? _Where in the world are you Ichigo?_

* * *

Ichigo had been drifting in and out of sleep for the past hour or so, but kept willing himself to stay awake for Toshirou's sake. He needed to be there for him as best as he could even if there wasn't anything he could actually do that could substantially help the younger male.

The strawberry was instantly alert when he heard a slight rustling in the trees to his immediate right. It was faint but Ichigo knew that he had heard it and he hoped to god it was just some random little animal that happened to be passing by. He would protect Toshirou if it absolutely came to that, because if the young genius was ever most in need of Ichigo, it was now.

Unfortunately for the pair, not long after the first noise came another louder and unmistakable breaking of twigs and shuffling of leaves.

Toshirou seemed to have noticed the strange sounds as well and was able to turn his head slightly so as to stare up into the face of the strawberry; it was still scrunched up in pain, but now with a hint of confusion in it. "Ichi…?" he whispered quietly.

"It's okay Shirou, just try and relax." Ichigo whispered back in almost an even quieter voice.

"B-Baka…" Was all Toshirou was able to murmur before falling still and silent once again.

The noises were becoming louder and more frequent and Ichigo was just about to the point of attempting to pick up Toshirou and get the hell away from whatever it was that had decided to hang around them. The rustling came closer and Ichigo very carefully began to rise to his feet being careful to keep Toshirou as still as humanly possible. Ichigo was now able to make out a large dark figure coming from the surrounding woods and was just about to slip into the shadows when he heard something he never expected to in a million years.

"Ichigo…?"

Ichigo just about dropped Toshirou in surprise and at first he thought that he had finally gone crazy, but when the hazy figure stepped out of the shadows, he was able to make out the unmistakable features of…

"D-Dad…?" Ichigo stuttered as a sudden wave of relief washed over the strawberry.

"Ichigo, what in god's name have you been doing…? Did you forget how to get back to our house again?" Isshin was so relieved that he had finally found his idiot of a son that he didn't even notice the small pale body in his son's arms. Ichigo still couldn't believe that his dad of all people had been the one to find them. It was when he heard a small groan that he remembered why he was so glad that his father had been the one to find them.

"You didn't happen to bring any painkillers with you did you, old man?" Ichigo asked hopefully, but by the looks of things Isshin didn't seem to have anything particularly helpful on him at first glance.

"Why? Are you-" Isshin started asked, but stopped in his tracks when he saw a few things that started to register in his mind. One, Ichigo's shirt was torn and slightly tinted red by his hip and two, Toshirou was clearly in an immense amount of pain though at first glance he wasn't exactly sure where. It all started to come to together as he finally noticed a red tinge sneaking out amongst the usually snow white hair. "Ichigo… explain, now."

The strawberry took a deep breath and as quickly as he possibly could he told his dad about his fight with Toshirou at lunch and then trying to give him time to cool off after school but then finding him half-conscious in the middle of the woods with the group of thugs chasing after him. "It was disgusting…" He spat as he remembered how they had talked about the young genius and he could almost swear that he could feel Toshirou tremble slightly as he continued talking about how they finally got away from the group and were able to hide from them. "And now, Toshirou's head hurts like hell, I don't know if it's a result from when they knocked him out or what, but it's obviously killing him and I've been at a complete loss as to what I can do to help him…" The strawberry finished sadly as he continued to stare into the tired teal eyes below him.

"Okay," Isshin started. He knew that unfortunately there was not really any sure fire way to get rid of a migraine other than taking painkillers and hoping they numbed the pain, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying to patch the two boys up as best he could. "Ichigo, I need to you lay Toshirou down so that he is lying flat on his back." Ichigo did so, but not without protests from the younger male. Toshirou wanted to keep curling into a ball, while all the while staying within Ichigo's embrace, but Isshin would never be able to properly get to his head injury if he did.

"N-no…" The white-haired boy mumbled as he felt the strawberry's warmth leave him only to feel alone and cold on the forest floor.

"Don't worry Shirou, I'm not going anywhere." Ichigo said calmly before Isshin stepped in between the two boys.

"Let me look at your side first, okay son?" This left Ichigo slightly confused.

"And how exactly do you expect to help me with no supplies…?" Isshin reached behind his back and magically seemed to pull out a small roll of gauze and bandages before instructing his son to take off his shirt.

"A doctor is always prepared." Isshin smiled as he started treating the result of Ichigo's brief encounter with a grazing bullet.

"You a doctor… yea I'm not so sure you're quite up there yet." Ichigo joked as his father quickly finished his job and turned his focus to the uneasy boy on the ground.

"He really is a mess…" Isshin sighed sadly. "I'm actually surprised that he's still conscious after all he's been through." Ichigo nodded before Isshin knelt before the young boy and whispered in a low voice. "I know you must be in a tremendous amount of pain right now and I do have some painkillers with me, but they won't take effect immediately and I need to make sure that the nasty gash on your head isn't infected so unfortunately, I can't afford to wait until the medicine takes effect…"

Even through all the pain, Toshirou knew what the older Kurosaki was trying to tell him. It was going to fucking hurt and there's nothing he was going to be able to do about it. The boy slowly nodded as Isshin pulled out two small pills which he gave to Ichigo who slid them through his boyfriend's pursed lips.

Ichigo took hold of one of Toshirou's petite hands and held it the entire time that Isshin was working on the wound on Toshirou's head. The worst part of the entire thing for everyone was when Isshin actually had to clean the wound before wrapping it up. Now, not only did the young white-haired boy have to deal with a still crushing migraine, he also had to deal with the needle like sting burning the back of his head. The genius couldn't help but hold back a scream as Isshin finished up and finally started wrapping his head in a load of bandages. Luckily, not too much longer after the medicine kicked in and Toshirou was able to at long last drift off into a semi-peaceful slumber.

The walk home took about thirty minutes and Ichigo was so grateful to his dad that he had shown up when he did. "If you hadn't found us… I don't know what would have happened to us. Thanks, dad."

"You can always count on your dear old dad to save the day!" Isshin yelled, now back to his usual crazy self; this earned a slightly awkward kick from Ichigo, who was still carrying the sleeping prodigy. "Hey-" Isshin started to complain before being cut off by the strawberry.

"Toshirou is still sleeping, moron!" Ichigo sighed. "Don't go getting all crazy on me again and make me take back my thank you…" There was no doubt that his dad was a crazy one, but when things got serious Ichigo could always count on his old man to come through for him.

* * *

"What's your excuse this time?" One make cloaked in shadows asked as he looked out at the pathetic looking group of people in front of him.

"I-It's n-not our fault…" One man tried to say before being cut off by the man in front of the large group.

"Bullshit." The man laughed when he saw fear flash across all the men's eyes gathered in front of him. "The boss does not take well to failures…"

"P-Please… don't tell…! We can fix this…! Right guys?" Another one of the men cried desperately as he turned around to face his fellow men trying to drum up support for their defense.

"You honestly think that after two failed attempts I will let you bumbling idiots go out just to screw it up again?"

"W-We promise. We w-won't fail this time!" Yet another man shouted from within the mass of men gathered in the small dark and cave like room.

"If it were up to me…" The man smiled evilly. "I would have you all killed right here and now for how you have disgraced me, how you have disgraced our organization and most importantly how you have disgraced the boss. But, luckily for all of you, I don't have that power." The man stepped aside and everyone in the room froze instantly when they noticed another unforeseen man waiting in the shadows step forward.

"You need to learn to have more faith…" As the man spoke, the words just seemed to roll off his tongue and chilled every man's soul in the room, including the one that had seemed to smug with wanting to kill all the underlings that stood before him just a second ago. "It is not entirely their fault that they have not been able to secure the boy. He is unfortunately under the protection of the one, Ichigo Kurosaki. Separating the pair after this _obstacle_ will not be an easy task…" The boss paused for a moment to allow what he had said to sink in before continuing. "I am personally familiar with our friend, Mr. Kurosaki... once he sets his mind on something, he will anything in his power to make sure that he accomplishes his goal. The plan seems almost painfully obvious, don't you see…?" he asked the waiting crowd even though he had not really expected an answer. "The plan is quite simple… before we can set our sights on our true prize… Ichigo Kurosaki must be taken out of the picture and eliminated."

* * *

**A/N: Wow! Such a long chapter with so much going on! I can't believe how long this chapter got, but I still like the way it turned out. Please review! I love reading them and they really make my day. :D I swear... I will try to update more often now that I am totally home for the summer and all I have to worry about is work. :)  
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	11. A Little R&R

**A/N: Sorry for the slight delay, but I had a few days worth of writer's block with part of this chapter being really annoying to write and although the chapter is shorter than usual I think it turned out pretty well. Thanks as always to all my amazing reviewers, you continue to inspire me to keep writing!**

Disclaimer: Everything Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.**  
**

* * *

Chapter 10- A Little R&R

The Kurosaki house was a busy place to be as almost everyone was running around trying to get ready for whatever it was they had planned for the day. Both Karin and Yuzu were getting ready for school; it was after all the last week before school got out for winter break. Ichigo was attempting to cram in as much studying as he could before he had to leave for school as well to take some of his remaining final exams. Even Isshin was rushing around the house trying to collect anything and everything he thought might prove useful during the day because today he had decided to go and try to find a job and wasn't quite sure what he would need for the day's events.

"Big brother!" Yuzu called from the other side of the house.

"What is it, Yuzu? I'm trying to study, remember…?" Ichigo asked while still trying to concentrate on some of the notes he had borrowed from his genius boyfriend.

"Rangiku's here! She says she wanted to walk with you and Toshirou to school today!"

"Just send her in the living room, okay?" Ichigo finally yelled back.

"Kay!"

Yuzu quickly returned to her breakfast and right as she did so, Rangiku entered the living room to see Ichigo still hunched over the pages of notes that were currently spread across the small coffee table.

"Good Morning, Ichigo!" Rangiku squealed excitedly as she started to engulf said male in a large hug.

"Not now, Rangiku. I'm trying to cram as much as I can into my head before we have to leave for school." The strawberry mumbled as he still refused to move his eyes from the scattered papers in front of him. Rangiku looked at her friend with a confused look on her face until he finally tore his eyes from the pages and decided to further explain himself.

"My dad explained everything to the administrators at the high school and they said that I would be able to make up the exams I missed today because originally I didn't have anything until tomorrow." The strawberry sighed as he returned his gaze to the notes. "We originally asked for more time because of what happened, but they said that it was either this or take an incomplete for the semester. I was going to have Toshirou help me study like he did for our math final, but the best he could do was to give me his notes."

Rangiku let out a quiet, 'oh' of understanding. She simply watched her friend frantically pour through the notes in front of him before they were again interrupted, this time by Ichigo's other sister, Karin.

"Ichigo! Yuzu and I have to go and I think dad just left so don't flake out on your exams or you're gonna be in for it tonite!" She yelled and before Ichigo would have even thought to come up with any type of comeback there was the distinct sound of the front door closing and not long after Rangiku found herself looking at the clock on the wall wondering where the youngest member of their group was.

"Toshirou better get down here soon or we're gonna be late to school." She muttered to herself.

"Toshirou is still sleeping off his migraine and not to mention everything else from last night." Ichigo replied absentmindedly as he started to gather all the papers together into one neat stack. "He's not coming with us to school today."

"Oh…" Rangiku frowned. "How is he? I heard it was pretty bad…"

Ichigo looked up to finally meet the gaze of the strawberry blonde, "It was… but my dad was able to help him through it and like I said before, he's upstairs right now sleeping it off."

Rangiku's face considerably lightened at this revelation. "Well, if Toshirou isn't coming, then I guess we should head out; exam week is the one time we really can't afford to be late."

"Right." Ichigo nodded. "Lemme just run up to my room for a sec… I need to grab my backpack really quick." The strawberry got up from where he had been sitting and was just about to head off towards the stairs when he stopped in his tracks, because right at the foot of the stairs was a very sleepy and confused looking Toshirou.

"Ichigo…?" He asked groggily as the he let out a particularly large yawn. Ichigo closed the small distance between him and Toshirou almost instantly.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" The strawberry apologized as he lightly kissed his younger boyfriend on his forehead.

Toshirou slowly shook his head. "No, I was just uh- wondering where you were…" He finished slowly.

"Well, cause of what happened the other day, I need to go makeup all the exams I missed." Ichigo couldn't help but laugh. "Remember? You gave me your notes to study earlier."

Toshirou thought about it for a moment before proceeding to slowly nod his head, his body may have been waking up, but his brain was still fast asleep. "Right…" he replied slowly as if he wasn't even sure of what he was saying at that moment, which probably had a lot more truth to it than he realized.

Sensing his small lover's confusion, Ichigo decided to guide the tired genius back towards his room so he could continue getting the rest his body was surely still in serious need of. "I'll be right down, Rangiku. Just gimme a few minutes." The strawberry smiled as he left the room, making sure that Toshirou didn't stumble or trip on any of the stairs as they continued to make their way back towards Ichigo's bedroom.

Ichigo's room wasn't particularly big, but for the record it was still a lot bigger than the one he had back in the city. His desk was pretty bare, it didn't see much use and there were only a few scattered clothes thrown haphazardly on the floor. The messiest thing in the room had to be the bed, its covers thrown off from when Toshirou had woken up only a few minutes ago.

Ichigo rushed around the room quickly gathering a few things before shoving them randomly into his backpack. Toshirou watched the strawberry with a blank expression and heavy lidded eyes for a few moments before something in his brain finally decided to click and his eyes shot wide open. "Wait…!" the young genius exclaimed suddenly causing the strawberry to jump several feet into the air.

"What?" Ichigo asked breathlessly.

"You're going to take you're exams today right?"

"Yea… and?"

"I should go as well… I have exams to take too, you know." Toshirou grunted as he quickly pushed himself up off the bed, obviously forgetting the fact that his body was still recovering from the events of the previous few days and before he could do or say anything a sudden dizzy spell came over him and he nearly toppled to the floor before being caught by the strawberry.

"And this is exactly why you're not going anywhere." Ichigo chuckled as he swiftly guided his young boyfriend back towards his bed.

"I have to…" a large yawn interrupted Toshirou before he was able to even finish his sentence.

"No. You don't." The strawberry said firmly, making sure Toshirou remained where he was. He could see his lover getting closer and closer to the brink of sleep every second, but if his brain wasn't at peace, it wouldn't do him any good. "You stay here and get some more sleep," Ichigo saw Toshirou's eyes glance up at his momentarily before he decided to finish. "If it makes you feel any better, my dad has already explained our situation to the administrators and after school today one of the senior teachers is going to come and proctor your exams here… but only," Ichigo raised his finger right in front of the young prodigy's nose. "Only, if you're feeling up to it."

Toshirou nodded sleepily. "Fine…" he muttered as he laid back against the pillow while Ichigo bent down so that he could pull the covers up to cover they boy, before running his hand through his fluffy white locks until Toshirou's breathing evened out and he was fast asleep.

"Sleep tight, Shirou." Ichigo whispered into the slumbering boy's ear before lightly placing a tender kiss on the younger male's cheek. The strawberry stood up, but otherwise remained rooted to the spot watching his small lover sleep peacefully. If anyone deserved a good sleep right now, it was definitely Toshirou. He had been through so much lately and to be honest, Ichigo still felt it was his fault because he had been unable to protect the young genius. In the end, it had all worked out though, right? I mean, Toshirou was here with him, safe and sound surrounded by people who cared about him. _Though, after what just happened there's no-way I'm taking even one eye off him… of course except for the next day or two while I have to go to school to take my finals._ Ichigo thought, still unable to pull his eyes away from the sight that was his beloved Toshirou. It was only when he remembered he had left Rangiku waiting downstairs was he able to finally able to pull himself out of his room and down the stairs to his awaiting classmate who had undoubtedly been wondering what had taken him so long.

"There you are, Ichigo!" Rangiku exclaimed when she finally saw her friend descend the small staircase. "I was beginning to get worried!"

"Sorry 'bout that, Rangiku." Ichigo apologized quickly. "When I went up to grab my bag, Toshirou tried saying something about coming with us to school, but that's not an option so I helped him get back to sleep and then well…" A slight blush started to creep onto the strawberry's face and luckily at that moment Rangiku decided to glance at the digital clock on her cell phone and suddenly let out a quick gasp.

"Oh my god! We are so going to be late if we don't leave like this second… let's go!" the strawberry blonde-haired girl grabbed an unsuspecting Ichigo's arm and started dragging him out the door and in the direction of the high school.

* * *

Ichigo as always, couldn't seem to concentrate on anything during school to save his life. It didn't help that he couldn't stop worrying about his petite boyfriend for more than a few minutes at a time. Though, when one takes into account everything that had happened recently it's not like it was all that uncalled for.

Rangiku had done her best to keep the strawberry distracted throughout the day and for the most part it worked, that was until Ichigo left for his last final for the day before he could return home. The exam went as well as he could have expected and the second he finished he practically sprinted to his locker. Luckily, earlier that day Rangiku had suggested leaving a note in his locker so that he didn't forget to go to the office to meet the teacher that was supposed to go to his house to help Toshirou make up his missed exams. _Right… _Ichigo thought to himself as he ran as fast as he could towards the main office.

The office was surprisingly empty when the strawberry arrived and he wasn't exactly sure when he was supposed meet up with this teacher or even if this was actually where they would meet… both of the secretaries were inexplicably absent and he couldn't think of anything else to do other than to just wait where he was and hope that the teacher in question would show up sometime soon. In the meanwhile, Ichigo decided to take a seat in one of the more comfortable looking chairs and was just about to pull out his backpack to see if he had anything he could use to keep him occupied when he heard a familiar voice from over his shoulder.

"Ah, Ichigo-kun!" The friendly white-haired man exclaimed as he entered the office.

"Hello, Ukitake-sensei." Ichigo smiled as he stood up from where he was sitting and shook hands with the white-haired teacher.

"School is over for the day Ichigo; you can feel free to just call me Jushiro." The man said as he returned a smile as well as the handshake.

"Uh- okay; if that's okay with you." Ichigo couldn't deny that it felt awkward addressing one of his teachers by their first name, but he wasn't necessarily going to argue.

"Of course!" Ukitake exclaimed happily. "How have your exams been going? Good I hope."

"They haven't been terrible…" The strawberry shrugged. "I've only got one more left that I have to take tomorrow, so I'm pretty happy about that."

"Well, that's good to hear." Ukitake smiled before looking over towards the empty secretaries' desks and looking back towards Ichigo.

"Do you know where either of the secretaries are?" Ukitake asked, but even before Ichigo had the chance to reply a lady interrupted the two males, walking straight over to the pair of them before stopping what seemed like less than a foot for both Ichigo and Ukitake.

"Ukitake-sensei." She said coldly, obviously not thrilled in the least bit to still be cramped up into a small office after school.

"Yes?" he replied.

"This," she said as she handed out a large manila folder that had been clutched at her side, "Contains everything thing you will need for this afternoon. May I remind you that you are required not to reveal the contents of this folder until right before the examination. Failure to do so could potentially result in termination of your contract and we will be expecting everything to be completed and returned by tomorrow before the end of the school day." Her voice sounded so painfully rehearsed, as though she said this thousands of times before and knew what to say down to the smallest syllable and it was pretty obvious that it was true.

"Are you taking some sort of test today?" Ichigo asked as Ukitake turned to face the strawberry once again.

"Nope, but if I'm correct I believe Toshirou is." The man grinned as he watched the sudden understanding of the situation dawn on the strawberry.

Ichigo gasped and couldn't help but smack his forehead. "You're the teacher that's coming over to my house to proctor Toshirou's exams?" The strawberry was honestly confused as to why this came as such a huge surprise to him. It wasn't that he wasn't happy about it… actually this was a really good thing because Ukitake was more informed about the whole situation, so they wouldn't have to worry about any misunderstanding.

"Yup." Ukitake replied. "I heard about what happened from some of the administrators and they felt since I already have a previous relationship with him, I would be the best teacher for the job.

"Awesome. So…" Ichigo started. "Are we about ready to head out?"

"Yeah, I have all the paperwork and all the exams, so I think we are good to go." Ichigo nodded before making sure he had everything and exiting the office right behind Ukitake.

* * *

Toshirou couldn't remember the last day that he had been able to just relax all day and not have to worry about where he would sleep or if he would be able to eat, or even where he would hide next to avoid running into any of the thugs that were always so incessantly looking for him. Especially now, there seemed to be something even bigger going on than ever… before whenever the thugs would come after him it would only be about one or two guys that beat on him for awhile before leaving him in whatever alleyway they had found him; but recently… they seemed to have upped their game considerably. If it hadn't been for Toshirou meeting Ichigo there's no telling where he would be right now or even if he would be alive… he was truly in Ichigo's debt, there was no doubt about it.

After Toshirou had awoken a few hours after Ichigo had gone to school, the young prodigy found that he was all alone in the house and when he finally got enough energy to get out of the bed, Toshirou decided to head downstairs and see if he could make himself something light to eat. The rest of the day moved by pretty quickly with Toshirou doing whatever he felt like, it was a weird feeling, but a good feeling all the same. The young genius started out reading, then his attention migrated towards the TV for a few hours, before finally falling asleep again curled up underneath a large blanket that he had brought down from Ichigo's room.

When Toshirou woke up again a few hours later he noticed that Ichigo still hadn't come home… as a matter of fact, none of the Kurosaki's had returned home yet for the day. Slowly, Toshirou rubbed his eyes before glancing quickly at the wall to see that it was already 2:30pm. _Ichigo should be back by now… I wonder what's keeping him…_ and then what seemed like the second the white-haired boy finished his thought; he heard muffled noises coming from right outside the front doors. The door opened and soon enough Ichigo entered the living room quietly, being unsure of whether his boyfriend was sleeping or not and when the strawberry saw that Toshirou was indeed awake a huge smile grew on his face before almost instantly engulfing the smaller male in a tender hug and capturing the younger's lips in a quick kiss.

"How's your day been, Toshirou?" Ichigo asked honestly. "I hope you didn't try and do anything too strenuous…" The strawberry wasn't surprised when he got an 'are you serious?' glare from the young genius. "Yes I am." Ichigo chuckled, "My dad said that he wants you resting for at least a few days, just to make sure that you're okay."

As if on cue, Ukitake decided to walk into the room and it was definitely an understatement to say that his sudden appearance surprised the younger white-haired male.

"J-Jushiro…" Toshirou stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

Ukitake merely chuckled at his young friend's reaction before greeting him. "It's good to see you are doing better, Shirou-chan; I heard that you got yourself into quite the situation and I'm glad that things were eventually resolved."

"Resolved isn't quite the word I would use…" Ichigo muttered quietly to himself, but before he could correct the older male, Toshirou beat him to it.

"Things were only _resolved_ as you say, because of Ichigo." Toshirou declared in a tone as though it was obvious and said strawberry couldn't help but blush as he took hold of his boyfriend's hand and squeezed it softly. Toshirou simply smiled before returning the gesture and continuing, "I was lucky enough to run into him while I was trying to escape and we only got away in the end because Ichigo was able to take charge of the situation and make the right decisions."

"Well regardless, I'm glad you're feeling better." Ukitake finished and then he remembered why exactly he had come to the Kurosaki house. "Oh! Shirou-chan, we should probably get started with your exams if that's okay with you."

Ichigo looked towards the young genius hopefully, "Are you feeling okay, Shirou? Cause you know you don't have to do this if you're not feeling up to it."

Toshirou shook his head, "It's okay, I'm feeling much better than I was this morning." Toshirou smiled encouragingly in Ichigo's direction and then sat back down motioning for Ukitake to sit beside him. "So, how exactly is this going to work, Jushiro?"

The two white haired males spent the next couple hours going through all the exams that Toshirou had missed while he and Ichigo had been preoccupied in Karakura Park and even any exams that Toshirou had left for the rest of the week which actually wasn't too many. Ichigo made sure that he was given frequent breaks to be that he wouldn't overdue it, but usually that just served to irritate the boy.

"Okay," Toshirou said as he let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm finished."

"Good job." Ukitake congratulated Toshirou, even though he knew that they had probably been pretty easy for him, it didn't stop Ukitake from offering as much congratulations and support as he would with any other student. "I'm going to finish up some paperwork on this tonight and have it turned into the main office tomorrow morning. If you want to know your scores, the office should have them ready by the end of the week." Ukitake finished as he gathered all the papers and tucked them all away in the manila folder they had arrived in.

Toshirou stood up while Ukitake was gathering his things and walked over towards the couch where Ichigo had fallen asleep in the middle of Toshirou's last exam. "Hey, baka. I'm done, wake up." Toshirou said casually as he attempted to rouse the larger male.

"Mhmm… five m're min'tes…" The strawberry muttered as the stubbornly refused to get up off the couch, being perfectly comfortable with his situation… except for one thing…. "Mh… Shirou join me…" Ichigo muttered as he extended his large arms and caught Toshirou unawares when he wrapped his arms around the smaller's waist and pulled him off his feet and onto the couch he was currently occupying.

"I-Ichigo!" Toshirou gasped in surprise as he attempted to get untangled from his still half-asleep boyfriend. "Get up. I'm finished, so we should be good hosts and show Jushiro to the door…"

Throughout the events of the brief encounter, Ukitake stood quietly where he was, quite entertained at the sight of the two teenagers before him. It was when he decided to let out a soft chuckle that Ichigo was alerted to the fact that he and Toshirou were indeed not the only people in the room. The strawberry quickly released his struggling boyfriend and just as quickly sat up on the couch, a tinge of red decorating his cheeks. "Oh sorry, Jushiro… I didn't realize you were still here." He said quietly as he let out a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry about it, Ichigo." Ukitake smiled. "Well, like I said to Toshirou, I should probably be getting home; it's getting late and I still need to finalize everything so that I can turn these in tomorrow." The man finished as he motioned to the folder in his right hand.

"Thanks for coming today… really." Ichigo said with Toshirou merely nodding in agreement when they finally reached the front door.

"Of course, goodnight boys… oh, and try not to cause too much trouble over break." Ukitake chuckled as he waved goodbye and exited the door firmly closing it behind him.

After Ukitake left, the rest of the night went on without too much excitement. Yuzu and Karin had called not long after Ukitake's departure saying that a couple of friends had decided to have a group study session for a big test they had the next day, even though they didn't have exams that didn't mean they had an easy week at school before winter break. They hadn't heard anything from Isshin, but he was expected to show up at some point during the evening. Ichigo passed the time mostly studying for his last exam the next day, while Toshirou spent most of the night on the couch half-helping Ichigo and half lying on the couch reading.

It wasn't till just almost midnight that Isshin managed to return home and when he trudged into the living room, he couldn't help but smile seeing both teenagers fast asleep and cuddled in each other's arms. Toshirou's body was curled in towards the strawberry's chest, while Ichigo had his arms wrapped protectively around Toshirou, making sure the boy would not be taken from his side while he was sleeping.

"Ichigoooo…" Isshin whispered playfully as he neared the slumbering pair. When Isshin was close enough he lightly prodded the strawberry just hard enough so that Ichigo stirred without having to wake the white-haired boy in his arms.

"What was that for…?" Ichigo grunted, clearly not appreciative of being woken up by his father when he had been having a particularly nice nap.

"It's almost midnight. Don't you think that you two should be getting to bed? You have one more final tomorrow and Toshirou's still recovering, so he needs all the rest he can get." Isshin stated matter of factly. "And on that note…" Isshin continued while attempting to stifle a large yawn. "I am going to head to bed myself, I'm exhausted… goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Isshin slowly exited the room, leaving Ichigo alone once more with his petite boyfriend, still fast asleep in his arms. Ichigo could already feel his body wanting to go back to sleep, but like his dad said, both he and Toshirou needed to sleep so the best thing to do at this point would be to head up to his bedroom before giving in to his body's desires. Trying to disturb Toshirou as little as possible, Ichigo lifted the slumbering boy gently as he rose gradually to his feet. Ichigo was able to make it just inside his bedroom until the boy in his arms began to stir.

"Ichigo… what's going on?" The young prodigy muttered sleepily.

"We fell asleep on the couch and I thought that since I was up, we might as well get a little more comfortable in an actual bed for the rest of the night." Ichigo whispered as he set Toshirou down lightly on his bed.

"M'kay… sounds good to me."

"Oh, Shirou?" Ichigo started rather uncertainly.

"What? Can't it wait till tomorrow, Ichi…?"

"No, it can't."

"Wha- is it then…?" Although Toshirou's body wanted to pull him back to sleep, his mind was as always, curious. What could possibly be important enough that Ichigo couldn't wait until the morning…?

"Well, I've been thinking a lot today about what's happened recently… and well… I think the best way to keep you safe and out of the sight of those bastards would be to well… have you hideout here at my place." Ichigo finished before starting to stare nervously at the floor.

"Well, I kinda already figured that…" Toshirou sighed.

"Well, when I mean hide here, I really mean hide here; like I don't want you leaving… at all."

"Hmm… yea okay…" Toshirou replied casually as he buried his head in Ichigo's pillow.

At first Ichigo was caught off-guard when Toshirou agreed so easily to his request; but then he realized that the boy was half-asleep. Maybe somewhere deep down in his subconscious the strawberry knew that the only way that he would be able to get Toshirou to agree to such a plea would be to ask him at this point when he would be caught unawares. Now the only thing he had to worry about was if the stubborn Toshirou Hitsugaya would still agree to his plan tomorrow when he would be fully conscious to realize what exactly Ichigo's request truly entailed.

* * *

**A/N: What else is there now to say except for please review! :D**


	12. Crash

**A/N: Work sucks. We'll just leave it at that. XD Anyway! Thanks for all the reviews and please keep um coming! :)**

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.

* * *

Chapter 11- Crash

To say that Toshirou wasn't thrilled with the unfortunate deal, that in his mind he had been tricked into agreeing to, would be a serious understatement. Sure, he was grateful that he had been welcomed into the Kurosaki household like a long lost family member, but staying in the house to the degree that Ichigo wanted… that was just insane.

"You did agree though, didn't you?" Ichigo asked playfully as he placed a playful kiss on the brooding boy's face.

"Only cause I was barely even conscious and you know it…" Toshirou huffed as he crossed his arms and continued to glare at the strawberry before him.

"Exactly." Ichigo continued to grin like mad, which only served to irritate the young genius more, regretfully realizing he had been caught.

"I'd say that you're impossible, but you already know that."

"Of course." Ichigo chimed in, ecstatic that things were going even better than he had expected.

"I really don't know why I even try…" the smaller of the two muttered as he decided to head to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

"Hmmm… I don't quite know myself..." The strawberry replied, playing along.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school taking your last exam?" Toshirou asked while he raised an eyebrow in question at the in the strawberry's direction. He knew that Ichigo still had one more exam to take, but what confused the young genius was the fact that school had just started and yet, here was Ichigo playing around with him in the kitchen like he had absolutely nothing else better to do.

"Welll…" Ichigo started, knowing that Toshirou was going to ask sooner or later, "Since I only have one exam today and it just so happens to be in the afternoon, I thought I'd spend the morning with you instead of wasting time being bored out of my mind at school in the library waiting for my exam to start."

"Sure…"

Toshirou ended up cooking a huge breakfast for him and Ichigo since they both had the house to themselves and frankly he needed to do something after having such a lazy day the day before. Ichigo was genuinely surprised at how talented his lover was in the kitchen and so Toshirou ended up having to explain that when he had been living with his grandmother outside of town he had learned how to cook for himself and his grandmother when she would be sick or otherwise unable.

"You're an amazing cook you know that, Toshirou?" Ichigo asked as he finished off the last of the pancakes, eggs and bacon Toshirou had prepared.

The boy merely shrugged. "Eh, I've had plenty of time and opportunities to learn."

"I guess so."

"Speaking of learning," Toshirou said after a moment of silence, "Shouldn't you be getting ready to go soon?"

"But I don't wanna." The strawberry whined as he looked playfully across the table to where his small lover was sitting, his fork hovering somewhere in-front of his mouth, forgotten to the boy for the moment.

"Baka, stop complaining. Just go and get it over with; the sooner you get it over with the sooner you can come back."

"Fine…" Ichigo groaned as he got up and left the table so that he could put his dirty dishes in the kitchen. Ichigo left Toshirou to his breakfast for few minutes, only to return fully dressed for school with his backpack slung casually over his shoulder. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Please, don't go wandering off anywhere." Ichigo begged softly as he quickly kissed his small boyfriend goodbye.

"I'm not promising anything." Toshirou grinned as he stood up from the table to wrap his arms around Ichigo's neck, subsequently pulling the strawberry downwards so that their lips met; Ichigo gratefully pulled the young genius closer reveling in the moment before he knew he would reluctantly have to pull away and leave the company of his beloved Toshirou.

"Of course now you just had to go and do that…" Ichigo whined. "Now I _really_ don't wanna go…" Toshirou smiled wickedly before Ichigo aptly added. "You're so mean..."

"I know." The young genius laughed as his boyfriend reluctantly let go before walking slowly over to and out the front door.

* * *

Ichigo returned a few hours later and he thought that since he couldn't take Toshirou out to celebrate the end of the semester as well as the beginning of winter break, the next best thing would be to bring the celebration to him. Before returning home to the surely impatient genius, Ichigo had made a quick pit stop at the local supermarket and picked up some food that he knew for a fact he would be able to prepare for just him and his small boyfriend. It was an old favorite that he mom used to make and a few years ago Yuzu had taught him how to make it just like their mom always had.

Soon, Ichigo found himself walking home quickly, his arms full of bags filled to the brim with various goodies, anxious to get back and start preparing dinner. He dropped everything he had been carrying when the house finally came into sight and Ichigo rushed over their small porch where none other than Toshirou was seemingly sleeping and rather uncomfortably by the look of it.

However, it wasn't the fact that the boy seemed to be have a growing frown on his face or the fact that he would jerk slightly ever few moments alarmed Ichigo. It was the fact that here was his boyfriend… out in plain sight… not to mention fast asleep… when said boy was supposed to be in hiding from a gang that didn't seem to want to rest till they had their hands on him; even after Ichigo had specifically asked him to stay hidden.

"Toshirou!" Ichigo yelled without thinking of the consequences. "What the hell were you thinking?" Toshirou nearly jumped out of his skin when he was suddenly awoken by his annoyed boyfriend. The white-haired boy didn't even seem to recognize Ichigo at first and when confronted by a supposed stranger the young boy fell out of the chair he had been sleeping in, in a frantic attempt to get away as far as he possibly could. The prodigy could easily hear the anger in Ichigo's voice, it was something that he had grown used to and honestly, expected and it served no purpose except to send the boy into even more of a panic. He knew, or at least thought he knew what happened to people when they were talked to like that.

Ichigo quickly made the mistake of grabbing the younger male's arm in an attempt to bring him into a hug so as to attempt to calm him down and unfortunately this only caused the exact opposite to happen as Toshirou instantly slapped the hand away and backed up as far as he could until he could feel the railing of the porch digging into his back. It only got worse when Ichigo followed him and cornered Toshirou who now started shaking while unsuccessfully trying to choke back a number of sobs, words at a complete loss for the usual quick thinker.

The carrot top simply couldn't believe what was happening and worse yet, he had no idea either how or why this had started or even how to begin to calm the white-haired boy down and out of his hysteria. He had already tried hugging him, which was met with the disastrous results displayed before him. _So…_ Ichigo thought to himself._ If I can't calm him down by any physical means maybe he would have more luck talking him down?_

"Shirou…?" Ichigo asked cautiously, using the nickname that he always did when his lover was sad or otherwise distressed. "I'm sorry I yelled; I didn't mean to frighten you… It's okay. I'm here and I'm not going to do anything to hurt you; you know that." There was no discernable change in the younger male's features so Ichigo decided to try again. "It's just me, Ichigo… Shirou, you know I would never let any harm come to you…" Still nothing. _What else can I possibly do?_ Ichigo thought to himself as he tried to come up with some way to break Toshirou out of his trance or whatever it was that was causing him so much distress. Then, without even realizing what he was doing, the strawberry found himself swooping down to Toshirou's level and before the boy could so much as gasp, he gently pressed his lips against the younger male's. When Toshirou was not kissing him back even after a few more moments went by, Ichigo reluctantly started to pull away until he felt, or more accurately heard something that suddenly stopped his retreat.

"Ichi…go?" Toshirou whispered slowly while looking around with unfocused teal eyes. "What's going on…? What are you doing here…?"

Ichigo just stared at his confused lover with a dumbstruck expression on his face. _What. The Hell. Was Going On…?_ He thought to himself before being careful to phrase the question that he was dying to ask. "You don't remember…?"

"Remember what?"

"What do you mean what…? I'm talking about just a minute ago…."

"I-I don't know…" Toshirou replied, his gaze now plastered to the ground. "What are you talking about, Ichigo… what's going on?" There was now a slight pang of panic now accompanying the confusion already there.

"You… kinda flipped out on me…" Ichigo muttered softly and if his face wasn't so close to the others than Toshirou probably wouldn't have heard him.

"I did…?"

"Yea."

"Oh."

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" Ichigo asked as he extended his hand towards the white-haired boy.

Toshirou's head dropped so that he was looking once again at the floor and ever so slightly looking in the opposite direction of the strawberry. "It's nothing…" He muttered. The young genius slowly and silently stood up while brushing Ichigo's hand to the side as he passed and was about to slip back into the house when he noticed the various groceries decorating the front yard. "Why are there random bags of food spread across the front yard?"

"It's not important right now." Ichigo replied. He wasn't going to allow his boyfriend to change the subject _that_ easily. "And it's also obviously not nothing. You really scared me…" Ichigo finished slowly as he took a few steps in Toshirou's direction before resting one of his hands on the smaller's shoulder.

Toshirou's large teal eyes connected with the strawberry's chocolate brown for a few seconds before the genius sighed loudly. "You're going to laugh…"

Ichigo quickly shook his head, "I won't unless you do. I just want to know what happened so that I can make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"I-I was having a dream– well, it was more like a nightmare I guess, and they came after me and I couldn't find you so I started to run, but they caught up to me and were just about to… k-kill me when you woke me up. I g-guess I just thought I was s-still dreaming and that you were one of them…" Toshirou didn't need to specify who 'they' were, Ichigo knew without a second thought. "Sorry…" the boy muttered slowly, a frown clearly making its way onto the prodigy's face.

Another shake of the strawberry's head, "Don't take all the blame…" Ichigo sighed, "It's partially my fault too. I kinda overreacted…" Ichigo had said almost everything he needed to and when Toshirou stood completely still, his features not changing at all; Ichigo knew that it would do no good to press the matter any further… except for maybe to tie up a few loose ends. "Stay here for a second while I go grab all the groceries." The taller male said calmly as he walked past the still unmoving Toshirou and gathered up all the groceries before briefly disappearing into the house, just to reappear a few minutes later.

When he returned, Ichigo casually slung his arm around his boyfriend's shoulder and began to steer the boy in the direction of the front door. "Do you at least understand why I was so worried? This time it _was_ just me and turned out to be a simple misunderstanding… but what if next time it isn't just me and you weren't imagining things…? I don't know what I would do with myself if I allowed that kind of thing to happen." Ichigo said softly as the two made their way to the living room.

"Fine…" The white-haired boy finally muttered.

Ichigo's mood almost instantaneously changed as he quickly kissed his boyfriend before rushing off to the kitchen to start on the adventure that was preparing their dinner hoping that they would still have the house in once piece when he finished.

* * *

Slowly, Toshirou found himself adjusting to his new life living with his boyfriend, Ichigo Kurosaki. He had never particularly gotten used to being cooped up all day every day, but Ichigo made it bearable for the most part and before the genius knew it, moments were turning into hours, hours into days and days into weeks. Before Toshirou's very eyes, their winter break was starting to come to a close. Ichigo still refused to let Toshirou step even a foot outside his house and it would be an understatement to say that Toshirou was getting tired of being cooped up twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

"Comon Ichigo… this is absolutely ridiculous…"

"You know what my response is to that."

"We haven't seen even a single gang member or otherwise sketchy looking person around here since break started…"

"Then it's working, isn't it?"

Toshirou threw up his hands in the air in frustration. "I swear, I'm gonna strangle you…" The genius muttered.

"But that wouldn't be very productive, now would it?" Ichigo flashed a sly smile in the direction of his irritated boyfriend.

"So… oh great and all knowing strawberry, what exactly do you propose we do in a few days when the new semester starts at school?" Toshirou replied, not even attempting to disguise the sarcasm dripping off his every word.

"Home schooling?" Ichigo suggested playfully.

"Not. A. Chance." The prodigy instantly refused. "Who are you expecting to teach me…?" A smile finally making its way onto Toshirou pale face, "You…?" He couldn't help but snort at the thought of Ichigo attempting to teach him stuff that he probably had no idea what he was doing himself.

The strawberry hated to admit it… but he was at a serious crossroads. He knew that there would be no way in hell that he could tutor the genius boy; he was after all, a freaking genius. On the other hand he himself wasn't quite sure if he was ready to risk Toshirou's safety by having him leave the house to go to school five days a week. Sure, things had been very quiet lately and they hadn't seen hide nor hair of any of the men that a few weeks ago seemed to show up everywhere… but what if that was their plan…? Lay off for a few weeks to let Toshirou and himself lower their guards so that they would be an easy target… All the possibilities made Ichigo's brain hurt...

"Fine." Ichigo finally muttered under his breath. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep Toshirou from school and as long as he went straight to school and straight back and Ichigo was with him at all times then would it really be such a bad thing? Toshirou did have a point when he said that they hadn't seen anyone suspicious looking since the beginning of their winter break. After all, what could go wrong at school?

* * *

A long lean shadow was floating down a long, dark hallway; he was not normally one to be excited or otherwise energetic about too many things, but there was something about his demeanor that for the first time in a long time practically screamed anticipation. The time he had been waiting for had come at last and it was just about time he take back what was his.

He reached the end of the hallway in mere seconds and paused for just a moment before he would push through the door and address all those who were waiting for what he had to say. The plan had been running through its course spectacularly so far and there was no doubt in the man's mind that things would start coming together very soon. Finally, he decided to make his way onto the stage that he always used when he had something especially important to say which involved the entire gang.

"I am pleased all of you decided to attend our little briefing today. The fact that you are here in this very room is a testament not only to you but the men around you that you are essential to the success of our most recent and probably most important exploit to date." He called out to all the eager and awaiting members. "We will no longer hide in the shadows… we will make people rethink what they thought they knew about The Noches!" The man paused as cheering and yelling erupted from the vast crowd gathered before him. The men continued to yell and scream their approval and from anyone else's eyes one would think that the crowd was now getting completely out of control, but all the man on the stage needed to do was raise his hand slightly and every single man in the room instantly became silent and still as if nothing had happened.

"In order for us to take advantage of this situation to the fullest extent, let it be known that we will be going on a little _field trip_ within the next few days." A quiet lulling murmur ran through the room as men who were brave enough or rather, dumb enough to talk began whispering to the other members around them. One brave soul decided to finally voice what everyone else seemed to want to know.

"Why can't we just do what we need to here, boss? What is so important that we have to leave our home?"

The man at the front just smiled a cruel smile that the people in the front rows couldn't help but take a small step backwards_ just in case…_ "What we need to do requires us to occupy a very particular location for a extended period. It is quite a distance from here and that is all you need to know for now."

"But surely, the _entire_ gang is not needed for this _one_ mission…?"

"Not the entire gang, oh no… we will be taking everyone _except_ a few men who I have the utmost faith in to keep things together here during our absence." A small group of what could only be about ten people stepped forward onto the stage to accompany their boss. "Is there anything you would like to add?" He asked as he looked in the direction of the small group of people standing right next to him.

A tall gangly man sporting an eye patch over his left eye stepped forward out of the group with an unmistakable frown on his face.

"I get that the brat is returning to school in a few days, which will undoubtedly make your job easier, but we still have the problem of the strawberry…" the tall male spat at the thought of the former member.

"Calm yourself." The boss assured the man. "I have made arrangements to ahem- otherwise occupy our dearest strawberry and he will undoubtedly play beautifully into my hands." The boss-man turned back to face his awaiting audience. "Is there anything else I can clear up for anyone before I start making arrangements for our imminent departure?" Not a single person moved or even breathed for that matter and when he felt he had made his point the man decided to finish. "Everyone is to be ready to leave at a moments notice… and on that note this meeting is adjourned."

The room instantly seemed to empty and even after a few moments the gathered people on stage wandered off in different directions until only the boss was left alone in the room.

_Soon, very soon all will come together and I will finally have my prize._ He thought before quickly running his hand through his short, wavy brown hair before walking out the door to make some final preparations.

* * *

"Toshirou! Hurry up will ya?" Ichigo called over his shoulder as the duo was walking towards the school for their first day since the end of winter break. Ichigo was frantic at the fact that Toshirou was outside in the open but Toshirou on the other hand was ecstatic about finally getting outside and being able to breathe fresh air after being cooped up in Ichigo's house for the entirety of their winter break.

"Ichigo. Relax." Toshirou called back, clearly annoyed. The young genius was in absolutely _no_ rush to get to the school; he was taking in everything he could before he had to be stuck back in a huge building for most of the rest of the day.

"I can't." The strawberry replied as he stopped where he was waiting for the white-haired boy to catch up to him before starting to walk directly behind him. "I keep thinking that I see one of the thugs out of the corner of my eye or I think I hear them whispering or something… I don't know. I'm just nervous I guess… why aren't you?"

"I don't know honestly." Toshirou replied as he kept up his leisurely pace despite Ichigo's attempts to push him along. "It might have to do something with the fact that life has seemed so 'normal' for me lately; no running from thugs, no wondering where I'm gonna find something to eat, no wondering where I'm going to sleep or if I'm ever going to wake up again. It's just a new feeling for me, I guess."

"Well, you better get used to it, cause you are never going to have to go to back to that crap again." Ichigo smiled as the two could see the school coming into view on the horizon.

Toshirou merely smiled back up at the strawberry before muttered a small almost inaudible, "Thanks."

When the two teenagers entered the high school they found that the building was a lot emptier than they had expected it to be. I mean, they hadn't come _that_ early. "I guess it's not just us that didn't want to come today."

"You mean just you?" Toshirou added slyly. He had never particularly disliked coming to school before; it was the one place where he could get away and be sure that he wouldn't be randomly attacked. The school had become somewhat of a sanctuary for the young prodigy through the years and even though he wasn't exactly popular, or probably even known to most of the student's as more than 'that kid' or 'the genius loner' or even 'Rangiku's odd friend,' he never let any of that bother him. The school had even been able to bring him back together with Ichigo after their startling first encounter the previous day. When Ichigo didn't say anything else the young genius decided to get things moving again. "Comon lets just get our stuff in our lockers and then we can head over to see if Ukitake is in his room yet."

"Kay." Ichigo muttered as he followed his small lover through the familiar hallways of Karakura High until they reached both Ichigo and Toshirou's locker and put everything away except for what they would need for their first class.

They were on their way to class when all of a sudden Toshirou froze in the middle of the hallway causing Ichigo to nearly topple over him.

"What's wrong?"

The boy in question merely took a deep breath and practically jumped behind the strawberry and before he knew what hit him, Ichigo was on the ground dazed and confused as to what in the world just happened.

"Awn, Toshirou! That's not fair!" A shrill voice called out from somewhere above the strawberry.

"What? If you're too slow to realize that I can simply move out of the way then that's not my fault."

Rangiku crossed her arms and started to pout and paying no mind to the moping strawberry blonde next to him, Toshirou extended his hand towards his still sprawled out boyfriend.

"Comon, let's get away while she's distracted." The young genius whispered just low enough so that Rangiku wouldn't hear. A smile grew on the strawberry's face as he watched Toshirou start to mouth a silent countdown. _Three… Two… One!_ All of a sudden the strawberry jumped up and both males were halfway down the hall before Rangiku even realized what was happening. The two teenagers were practically doubling over in silent laughter by the time they finally arrived at Ukitake's classroom.

"Gosh…" Toshirou managed to say between laughs. "I haven't… had that much fun in… well I can't remember…"

"Yea…" Ichigo agreed. "Nothing like running from Rangiku to start off the day with a good laugh." Ichigo chuckled. So far, the day had been going exponentially better than he had ever expected. He had almost forgotten why he had been so worried to bring Toshirou with him to school in the first place. He loved seeing Toshirou as carefree as he was right at this moment and being able to actually hear genuine laughter from the boy was just the topping on the cake.

"I see you two are enjoying yourselves this morning." A voice came from behind the two still laughing boys.

Both Ichigo and Toshirou turned around to see none other than Jushiro Ukitake walking up behind them with his ever present smile.

"Good morning, Jushiro."

"Good morning, Ukitake-sensei."

"Good morning, boys." Ukitake replied as he pulled out his key and unlocked the door to the small classroom. "Seems that you two were able to make it back to school in one piece." The man chuckled. "Good to see that you are doing well, Toshirou." Ukitake said as he turned his attention towards the smaller of the two.

"As well as you, Jushiro." Toshirou replied, following said man into the classroom, where he and Ichigo took their usual spots towards the back of the classroom.

"Are you two ready for what is coming in the new semester?" The white-haired teacher asked as he settled himself into his desk, pulling out everything he was going to need for the rest of the day.

"Of course." The white-haired genius replied casually.

"And you, Ichigo?" Ukitake asked as he raised an eyebrow to the orange-haired teenager.

"I honestly have no idea…" Ichigo laughed nervously as he started to scratch the back of his head.

"Oh I wouldn't worry too much when you have our always dependable Shirou-chan around." Ukitake smiled which caused Toshirou to blush slightly.

Before Ichigo could say anything the first bell of the day rang warning students that they had only five minutes to get to their first class. Ukitake walked back up towards the front of the classroom and as all the student's started filing into the classroom, he started writing a bunch of formulas that they had learned last semester on the board; no doubt today was going to be a lot of review for stuff they had learned last semester.

Not even a second before the second bell rang did Rangiku come bursting into the classroom breathing heavily as she quickly made it the rest of the way towards her seat next to Ichigo and Toshirou.

"Where have you been?" Ichigo asked as the girl collapsed into her seat.

"Well… after you two ditched me," The strawberry blonde took a moment to glare at both of her friends. "I was just about to run after you, when I saw this really cute guy from my French class. I ran up to him and we started talking and-"

"You got distracted by a boy again." Toshirou finished bluntly. "And let me guess… you were late because you two were making out behind the school…?"

"No we weren't!" Rangiku exclaimed. "It was in an empty classroom on the other end of the school..."

"And that makes it so much better." Toshirou snorted.

Rangiku was about to defend herself when Ukitake raised his hand and waited for the class to calm down.

"Okay class, I hope everyone had a safe and fun break?" Murmurs of agreement and other small chatter broke out amongst the students. "Why don't we get started with today's lesson, then?"

* * *

Their first day back at school had continued to exceed any and all expectations Ichigo had had, but that didn't mean he would let Toshirou go gallivanting off wherever he wanted to just yet. He still refused for the entire first week of school to let Toshirou go anywhere expect for straight to school and straight home. He could feel that young genius was getting increasingly frustrated with him, but he just couldn't shake that sneaking suspicion that everything was not as good as his young lover was attempting to make it out to be. Ichigo had been thinking of other ways to keep Toshirou safe than keeping him hostage in his house every day for the rest of his life. They couldn't hide forever… they would undoubtedly have to face their assailants some day. Ichigo just hoped that that someday wasn't coming for them anytime in the near future.

"I've been thinking…" Ichigo started out rather awkwardly.

"Don't strain yourself." Toshirou chuckled as he was finishing up an assignment due for Ukitake the next day. Usually he would do Ukitake's assignments first, math being his favorite subject, but lately he had gotten into the habit of doing the work with Ichigo just in case the strawberry had questions or otherwise needed help.

"I'm serious."

"Okay," Toshirou said as he put his pen down and looked up at the now fidgeting Ichigo, his entire focus on the man before him. "Shoot."

"Well, I've realized that it's not really fair to you for me to keep you trapped in my house day after day, night after night like some sort of prisoner…"

"You're just figuring this out now?" Toshirou knew his boyfriend was trying to have a serious conversation with him, but he just couldn't resist joking around just a little on this particular topic.

"I've been thinking long and hard on other ways of keeping you safe, but while letting you keep your freedom at the same time." Ichigo continued completely ignoring the aforementioned joke.

_This must have really been bugging him if he's letting me get away with teasing him like that…_ Toshirou thought to himself before motioning to the strawberry to get on with whatever it was that he wanted to say.

"What I mean to say is… well, I want to uh- train you…?" Toshirou couldn't figure out for the life of him whether or not Ichigo was asking him if he wanted to do this or if he was just simply stating a fact. It was actually a pretty interesting idea… it's seemed like such an obvious thing to do, which was, in essence, the beauty of it. Sure, Toshirou had picked up a few moves and what-not surviving on the streets, but Ichigo… he was breathtaking in battle, probably one of the best fighters, if not _the_ _best_ in the country.

"You know how to fight with a sword?" Toshirou asked.

"No…" Ichigo replied shaking his head. "I mean like well, I want to train you in unarmed combat. That way if you ever find yourself without your sword, or like, if they manage to get it away from you then you would still be able to defend yourself. I have a lot of fighting experience and I just thought that-" The strawberry started rambling before being cut off Toshirou.

"Okay."

"Okay…?" Ichigo was somewhat caught off-guard when the young genius agreed so easily, but thrilled none the less.

* * *

So that was how Toshirou found himself facing off against his boyfriend in a random clearing in the middle of nowhere. They had been training for a few hours already and Toshirou was astounded at how much Ichigo knew about fighting and how effective his strategies were. There almost seemed be two Ichigos… first you have the carefree, yet lovable idiot that Toshirou spent most of his time with, but then there was this other Ichigo… one that was serious, careful and calculated. When Toshirou faced off against this particular Ichigo, he couldn't help a part of him almost fearing the strawberry's power.

"Had enough already?" Ichigo asked, a devious smile decorating his face as he stood about twenty feet away from where Toshirou currently was.

"Not a chance." The determined prodigy replied with a simple shrug of the shoulders. It wasn't a _complete_ lie… just not completely accurate either. The two boys had been at it for a few hours now; Ichigo had dragged Toshirou out of the house at the crack of dawn and now the day although not really all that hot felt as if it was one-hundred degrees to the small genius. Toshirou's hair was matted down around and sticking to his face because of all the sweat and the weird thing was that as hot, sweaty and tired as Toshirou was right now, Ichigo still managed to look cool as a cucumber as though he had just walked out of a cooler five minutes ago. There was a line of sweat decorating his brow, but for the most part he seemed unaffected by the sweltering heat which made Toshirou feel like he was melting into a pool of goo.

Ichigo decided to take advantage of the moment and started moving in closer to where his smaller boyfriend was waiting and started raining blows after blows on Toshirou and said boy managed to block every single strike until the strawberry decided to throw a fake out punch which Toshirou effectively guarded against expect for at the last second Ichigo pulled his punch and instead threw out a lightning fast side kick.

Toshirou caught his mistake a second too late and in a last ditch effort to avoid it he jumped off to the side slightly and unfortunately at that same exact time, Ichigo knowing that his boyfriend had been fooled by the fake out didn't expect Toshirou to have the instinct to move the way he did and when he tried to redirect the kick to the immediate right of his lover, Toshirou just happened to jump right back in front of his kick and the two collided. The boy could only grunt in pain before dropping to the ground and immediately clutching his stomach.

"Toshirou!" Ichigo yelled as he knelt down next to the younger male. "Are you okay? I really wasn't expecting you to jump out of the way like that since we haven't been practicing that…"

Toshirou managed to force a small smile. _Idiotic, but lovable Ichigo had made his return almost instantaneously._ The boy thought to himself as the strawberry attempted to force the arms clutching his stomach to the side.

Ichigo frowned; he knew that his lover was just trying to act strong like he always tended to do. "Comon, Shirou." Ichigo said soothingly as he slowly helped the smaller male gingerly to his feet. "We need to stretch it out okay? I want you to hold your hands behind your head and take deep breaths." Honestly, Toshirou could barely stand straight without wanting to curl back up into a ball and wait for the pain to subside, but he knew that the strawberry was right and regretfully did as Ichigo had told him and after a few minutes he was starting the feel the pain start slowly ebbing away before settling at a dull throbbing.

Ichigo led the tired genius over towards a shaded tree where they had dropped all their stuff after first arriving at the clearing earlier that morning. The strawberry quickly picked up one of the cool water bottles that he had brought and handed it to the other male who took it gratefully before almost chugging the entire bottle in one breathe.

"Why don't we call it for the day, then? You really are improving at an exponentially faster rate than anything I had anticipated." Ichigo replied encouragingly as he started gathering the few things that they had brought with them, before turning back to the boy who now was lying back against the tree, eyes closed and the almost empty water bottle still snug in his small lap. "Toshirou…? Are you listening?" he laughed as he started poking the smaller boy, careful to avoid the area around his stomach.

"Mhmmm… sounds good ta me…" The boy slightly slurred, keeping his eyes closed. He hadn't realized exactly how tired he truly was until he decided to rest his eyes for a second.

"Hey babe, before you pass out, do you think you can climb on my back? This way I can just give you a ride home and you don't have to worry about walking all the way." A small nod was all he got before he got into a squatting position in front of his exhausted lover. Slowly but surely, the smaller male managed to drape his body over the strawberry's back so that his arms were hanging over the other's shoulders and Ichigo had his arms fully supporting the genius's slender legs.

It was about a twenty minute trek back to the house and Ichigo decided he wasn't going to rush home because he didn't want to disturb the boy on his back. They talked for a few minutes before Toshirou slowly started to talk less and less and when Ichigo felt the even light breathing of his lover on the back of his neck he knew that the boy had finally fallen asleep.

"You did great today, Shirou." Ichigo whispered softly even though he knew the smaller male couldn't hear him. "If anyone deserves a good rest, it's you; Sweet dreams."

* * *

"Thank. God. It's _finally_ Friday…" Ichigo said exasperatedly as he and Toshirou walked through the door and entered the Kurosaki house. Ichigo just dropped his bag in the middle of the room and slumped onto the couch, while Toshirou proceeded to put all his things away where they were supposed to be in what had become his and Ichigo's room. He wasn't what one would consider a clean freak… he just liked keeping things in their place and being able to maintain some sense of order when possible. Toshirou soon returned to the living room and sat himself in one of the armchairs because Ichigo was still currently sprawled out on the couch.

"Any plans in mind for tonight? Training…? Movies…? Nothing…?" Toshirou asked simply knowing that Ichigo was in fact not asleep and fully conscious of the fact that he was in the room and talking to him.

"Nah, we've been going at it for awhile and I don't want us getting all sweaty and disgusting for tonight." The strawberry replied without even bothering to open his eyes.

"And what exactly is so special about tonight…?" Toshirou mused out loud.

"You'll see." Ichigo smirked. "Now, go up take a shower and while you do that I'm gonna take a nap… I'm exhausted."

Toshirou wanted to argue, but he knew that it would just make his life so much easier if he did what his boyfriend wanted him to and he would probably find out sooner by being compliant as opposed to questioning the strawberry.

Once Toshirou was finished with his shower, he pulled a towel off the rack before stepping out of the shower only to find that all of his clothes had gone 'mysteriously' missing. It wasn't even a question in the young genius's mind who the culprit was, but the fact remained that he still needed something to cover himself so keeping a firm hold on his towel, Toshirou swiftly darted towards his and Ichigo's shared room. When he entered he found a brand new outfit pristinely laid out on the strawberry's bed. Hoping this would all start to make sense something soon, Toshirou quickly dressed and walked back downstairs to find that Ichigo had already changed as well and into much nicer clothes than he usually saw him sporting.

"What exactly is going on here?" Toshirou asked still bewildered by all recent events.

"Just a little thank you for putting up with me and whatnot." Ichigo smirked as he walked over and kissed Toshirou softly, who gratefully returned the gesture.

When Ichigo finally ushered Toshirou outside, Toshirou noticed that there was a small taxi parked on the side of the road closest to them.

"Comon Toshirou, the guy is charging by the hour!" Ichigo bellowed as he held open one of the car doors.

Ichigo had the cab driver drive them to this expensive restaurant where he and Toshirou had a romantic little dinner before the two headed off to the local movie theatre and the two watched a movie that both boys had wanted to go see during break, but for obvious reasons hadn't had the chance. The white haired boy was astounded at how much preparation, time and money Ichigo had put in to make the night special for the two of them. He had taken into account Toshirou's favorite foods and desserts and made sure that the restaurant they went to had both. Then, the strawberry had been sure to find a theatre which had the special loveseats so that they could sit together without that annoying cup holder separating them. Before the two knew it, it was well past one in the morning and despite it being probably the date o' the century they knew that if they didn't get home soon there would be nothing to stop them from falling asleep in the middle of some random street.

After the movie the two males had ended up just about as far as you could get in Karakura from the house and the ride home would probably take a good fifteen to twenty minutes. As Toshirou gazed out of the back seat window of the cab he noticed that even though it was nearing two in the morning, the city seemed like an absolute ghost town. There was a growing uneasiness in the pit on the genius's stomach and he didn't like it one bit. Toshirou sent a nervous glance in Ichigo's direction who had also noticed the peculiar lack of anyone person, car, or animal in the vicinity.

"Tonight was the most amazing night of my life, but I gotta admit I can't wait to get home and just pass out in bed." Toshirou noted before realizing that he had never formally thanked the strawberry for the entire night. "You really didn't have to do all that just for me… but thanks." He finished as an authentic smile shown past his tired demeanor.

"I would do it for you again in a heartbeat."

The taxi slowly came to a stop as it approached a red light and after a few minutes of red, the light finally turned green again and the taxi dashed out into the large intersection. It was at this exact moment that all hell broke loose: the taxi driver didn't even see it coming. All of a sudden a force with the magnitude of a large train smacked into the side of the taxi sending the small car flying across the intersection before crashing head first with a sickening crunch into a nearby telephone pole.

* * *

**A/N: Now we're getting to the good stuff! :D I can't wait to start writing the next few chapters. Please Review in the meantime! :D Thanks!  
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	13. The Deal

**A/N: So I decided to take a little bit more time to work on this chapter because I personally feel that this is probably one of the more important chapters in the story. I'm actually quite proud as to how it came out. ^^ Oh, and before we get to the actual chapter, a big 'THANKS!' to everyone that has either alerted, favorited, and/or reviewed this story! I love you all! :D**

Disclaimer: I wish Tite Kubo would share Shirou and Ichi with me... but until that fateful day, they're all his!**  
**

* * *

Chapter 12- The Deal

"Hello?"

"I apologize for calling so early sir, but is this the Kurosaki household?"

"It is, what can I do for you?"

"Could I please speak with a… Mr. Isshin Kurosaki…?"

"This is he. Who is this?"

"My apologies sir, my name is Suganuma Harutake; I work at Karakura General Hospital. Unfortunately, I'm calling because your son, Ichigo Kurosaki, was just admitted to the ER with serious injuries which we believe were a result of a hit and run accident."

"Oh my god…"

"I'm sorry sir. The doctors are doing all they can for him, but I'm afraid it's too early to be able to tell you anything definite."

"I'm on my- wait… Mr. Harutake, was it?

"Yes…?"

"What about the other boy that was with my son? Is he okay?"

"Other… boy…? Uhhh… I'm sorry sir, but according to my records there was only one other person in the car; the driver of the car I believe, and it was determined that he was killed on impact."

"No, that can't be. There must have been another boy with my son… they never leave each other's side. He is about my son's age, but a fair amount shorter than him and has silver-white hair."

"I'm sorry sir, when the authorities arrived at the scene they only found two people at the scene… one being your son and the other being the taxi driver. There are no reports of a third person being in the car before or after the car crashed."

* * *

_~~~A few hours earlier_~~~

The first thing that started to snap Toshirou back into awareness was the burning sensation in his nose and throat. The second thing he realized was that he couldn't breathe; the air around him had a vile and repugnant odor and every time he tried to take a breath, he only inhaled more smoke that was currently filling the cab of their small car and he started coughing as the smoke began to settle in his lungs. The third and probably most important thing that Toshirou realized was why he and Ichigo were in a smoking car and not sleeping peacefully together in their room at home.

They had been waiting at a red light… it had turned green and so the driver had proceeded out into the intersection… _What happened after that?_ Toshirou thought fervently. _Right… _Just as they had gotten about halfway through the intersection another car had slammed into the side of theirs and the driver undoubtedly lost control of the cab and collided with something large and solid… _probably a telephone pole or something._

Something seemed off though… head on collisions like with a tree or telephone pole were one of the most dangerous collisions you could have because the faster the impact is the more force and strain is put on your body, therefore typically causing more serious injuries than just being shoved off the road. Which raised the question, _why doesn't it feel like have any injuries…?_ And then just when Toshirou didn't think it could possibly get any worse he noticed a figure lying motionless by his feet and suddenly understood why he had managed to escape the crash relatively unscathed.

_Ichigo…!_

The small genius felt his entire body instantly freeze as he stared at the unmoving from of his lover before him. There was blood covering his face and his clothes were ripped and torn in multiple places with an unmistakable red liquid flowing from countless cuts and gashes all over his body.

"Ichi…go…?" he whispered again cautiously.

It terrified Toshirou to think about what else may have happened that wasn't already obvious on the surface. The way Ichigo's body was lying so still it almost certainly seemed that he might be… no-he couldn't say it. He just couldn't say the d-word because the second he did, it might become a very real possibility. _The idiot!_ Toshirou thought to himself. _Somehow he must of known what was happening a split second before and he… he-_ The young genius's eyes started watering, but now not only because of the fact that the smoke seemed to be getting worse and worse by the second. _I can't just sit here and wait to suffocate; I need to figure out a way to get us out of here!_ A particularly painful set of coughs seemed as though to give the white-haired boy's brain the jolt it needed to get in action. _Unless I'm mistaken, I'm pretty sure I remember the car hitting us on the driver's side door, so hopefully the car didn't collapse too much on the rear driver side door and I should be able to get it open._ Right as Toshirou was about to attempt to force the rear door open he remembered that it hadn't just been him and Ichigo in the car and was able to find the cab driver with minimal trouble before putting two fingers up to the man's neck to check for a pulse.

"Nothing…" Toshirou gawked in silent disbelief. "He must have been killed the instant we hit that telephone pole…" _All the more reason to get Ichigo out of here so I can make sure that the same thing doesn't happen to him._ A few weak shoves later, Toshirou was able to force open the rear driver's side door and with a strength he didn't realize he still had he was able to drag his lover's limp form out on to the cool early morning grass.

For the first time since the death of his parents, Toshirou felt pure and unbridled terror. The terror that doesn't come from being scared of getting beaten up, or failing out of school… it was the kind of terror that one experiences when they fear of losing that one special person (or people) that you love with every fiber your being and would risk anything to protect. It was almost as if he could feel Ichigo being pulled farther and farther away from him every single second that passed even though in a physical sense he continued to lie perfectly still in the exact same spot on the cool ground right in front of him.

In all the confusion, it seemed that the emotional part of Toshirou's brain seemed to just completely overwhelm the logical and as he continued to be consumed in the horrific thoughts of losing the strawberry it didn't even seem to occur to the boy at first to possibly try and get help.

"W-why…? Why d-did you d-do it Ichigo…? Why d-did you h-have to go and get k-killed j-just for m-me…? YOU BAKA!" Toshirou screamed into silent morning sky as he started sobbing into the strawberry's shirt already decorated in various shades of red.

"s'not very n'ce ta s-say…" Toshirou instantly froze and his head instantly bolted up right, tears still refusing to stop.

"I-Ichi…go?" the boy managed to gasp out from in between sobs. "H-how could you…?"

"D-Do wha…? Save ya..?"

"How could you just be so ready to throw away your life trying to shield me…? Even you aren't invincible…"

"cant go and lose ya… now can i..?"

"Just be quiet, baka. You need to save your energy…" It seemed that just the simple fact of seeing Ichigo somewhat responsive gave Toshirou's mind the boost is need to finally calm down just enough so that he could finally start thinking clearly again; and although Ichigo was by no stretch of the imagination fine, he wasn't dead. Though, if he didn't get to a hospital soon, who's to say that that wouldn't be the case? "Don't move." Toshirou demanded as he desperately rifled through the strawberry's torn pockets for a certain little device that he hoped to god was still operational.

" 'm sleepy Shirou…" Ichigo yawned but was cut off by an insistent Toshirou.

"Stay with me, Ichigo! I promise once I find your- oh, here it is… thank god, somehow it still seems to work." The smaller male exclaimed as he finally pulled out Ichigo's battered replacement phone. "No! Ichigo don't!" But it was no use as the second Toshirou's petite fingers started to dial 911, he realized that Ichigo had once again fallen into the unforgiving realm of unconsciousness. _God dammit. _He thought to himself as he quickly dialed and waited for the dispatcher's voice… but they never came.

Right as it seemed the line had picked up, Toshirou felt the phone get yanked out of his hand and thrown carelessly off to the side somewhere.

"And what exactly do you think you are doing, dear little Toshi-kun?"

_Oh no…_ Toshirou thought as he froze when he heard the strange voice that couldn't be much further than a few feet from the back of his head. _Not now… please… not now..!_

Normally, Toshirou would be apt to come back with a snappy remark about how his boyfriend was lying half-dead on the ground so of course he was calling 911, but the words just didn't seem to want to form and even when he opened his mouth nothing came out.

"Speechless in my presence…?" The man sneered as he continued to grin down at the silent boy on the ground in front of him.

It was then that Toshirou realized he had never seen this man before in his entire life… at first, he had thought it was Kazuhara because it was pitch black out and the two men seemed very similar in height and build, both very tall with short black hair and not a lot of muscles. So, if Kazuhara wasn't here then… where? It wasn't like Toshirou missed the bastard or anything, but he had been the boy's lead tormentor for as long as he could remember and now for him to be no-where in sight relieved him, and yet unsettled him at the same time. Seeing the obvious confusion on the young boy's face, the man couldn't help but hold back a low snort.

"Oh right… I guess this is the first time you have ever seen my face, but I can assure you that yours is one that is not the least bit new to me." A low laugh which incited the group of men behind him to start chuckling amongst themselves as if there was a huge inside joke between the entire group, which was more than likely the case.

"W-What's that s-supposed to mean…?" Toshirou struggled as he finally managed to form a mostly coherent sentence, which only seemed to drive the group of men into even more fits of laughter.

"It means, my dear, oblivious Toshi-kun, that I have been keeping a very close eye on you for quite some time now. Always ready to strike if for some reason I was needed… and well as you can see, I was needed."

Toshirou knew that he was going to kick himself later for asking this, but it was a question that had driving him absolutely nuts ever since he had turned around. "What h-happened t-to…?"

"Oh, Kazu…?" The man mused. "That idiot ended up not having the skills that were… _required_ to get the job done so we had to get rid of him; the boss has no use for someone so useless." As if knowing what the white-haired boy was going to ask next, he continued. "We have no more room left for failures or any other kind of error in an assignment this important to the boss and so I was chosen because I always get the job done at any costs; which brings us to why I'm here…"

Toshirou froze as his new tormentor walked casually back towards the group of thugs that had finally stopped laughing. They crowded around their leader and seemed to be discussing something, but for the life of him, Toshirou couldn't figure out what they were saying. The leader said something again which caused almost all the men to gasp in surprise, there was obviously something about the situation that they hadn't been informed of beforehand and it seemed like quite the shocker from the looks that were on everyone's faces. One pointed towards where Toshirou was standing, but it was weird… instead of staring blanking at the young prodigy, it was as if they were trying to stare _through_ him… but what was- _Oh my god, they're not staring at me… they're staring at… Ichigo!_

Without a word to their superior, a large chunk of the men gathered started lumbering over to where Toshirou was still standing.

"S-Stay back…!" The young genius yelled, trying to sound tough, but still being in shock from the crash, he ended up sounding more panicked than anything else.

Ichigo was in no state to defend himself, so it was up to Toshirou now… after all the times the strawberry had stood by him and protected him… it was Toshirou's turn to risk his life defending the one person he cared for most.

If he had found himself in this situation even a few months ago, he was sure that he would have thought that he was done for… vastly outnumbered and without Hyorinmaru by his side… but the person he was a few months ago was light-years away from the person he was now. Ichigo had known that they might find themselves in a situation like this, where Ichigo, for whatever reason, wouldn't be able to protect Toshirou and he would have to defend himself. He had only been training with Ichigo for awhile, but it was now or never, Toshirou would finally be able to see if all that training had paid off or not.

After a few minutes of intense stare-downs and dirty looks, it seemed as though the group would never make a move which normally wouldn't annoy Toshirou as much as it was, but there were two huge differences between when he was training with Ichigo and now. First, it _wasn't_ just training; it was real. Which prompted the next point, Ichigo was in serious danger and if he didn't get him help soon then… then he might lose him forever. So ultimately, Toshirou had a choice: he could stay right where he was and protect Ichigo from whatever malicious plans they had in store for him or he could sprint off to the side for just a few seconds to see if he could grab Ichigo's phone to try and call for help again.

However, by this time, the thugs had had enough waiting for the white-haired by to make the first move and before he could contemplate the situation any longer… they charged.

In a span of a few minutes, Toshirou had managed to fend off most of the men with numerous techniques that he had learned while training with the strawberry, but it seemed that they had also learned from the last time he had fought with the gang and this time not a single person hesitated to attack the young genius and then even when Toshirou would manage to knock one of the men out another would step into his place. It was like they were completely different people; a vicious never-ending cycle and after taking out everyone in the original group and Toshirou wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to keep it up.

"I must applaud you," The leader called behind the horde of attacking thugs. "I never thought that you would be able to last this long."

That statement, as much as he hated it, Toshirou couldn't help but agree with it; though he would readily die before he ever admitted that. If there had been one aspect of fighting that Toshirou had the most issues with during training, it was stamina. He wasn't very good at pacing and during fights would usually end of trying to take out the enemy fast. Which worked in some situations, but when you have a tendency to fight out all in the beginning and you still haven't taken out your opponent after some time, then you really don't have all that much left to give and from that point the odds of you coming out victorious continue to get smaller and smaller with every passing minute. Of course, the one thing that they had yet to refine and practice would end up being his ultimate undoing; fate was undoubtedly somewhere laughing in his face.

It had been pretty easy to fight off of the thugs towards the beginning, but now Toshirou could feel his movements were getting slower and weaker, either that or the men attacking somehow got faster and stronger, which was extremely unlikely. By now, Toshirou was breathing heavily with sweat cascading down his usually pale features and it didn't help in the least bit that his body was still sore from the impact of the crash. _What am I going do? Even if I manage to protect Ichigo from all the thugs, none of that will matter if he doesn't get to a hospital soon. _Toshirou looked desperately around again in search of Ichigo's discarded phone and found that it was thankfully still lying where it had been since the beginning of the fight. In looking for the phone, he must have dazed off for just the slightest second because without any warning he felt two pairs of hands grab him from behind, a set of hands holding onto each of his arms, and before he knew it he was dragged towards the man across the street with a cruel smile on his face and more importantly… away from Ichigo.

"Wha-?" Toshirou breathed in surprise.

"According to one of my sources, the locals are starting to get suspicious…" The leader stepped forward as he looked down at the white-haired boy who by now had been forced to his knees so that now in addition to not being able to use his arms, he now also lost the ability to use his legs effectively as well. The man quickly snapped his fingers, "Comon men, we need to wrap things up if we want to stay on schedule." But instead a few of the men walked over towards where Ichigo was still laying unconscious.

"Get away from him!" Toshirou yelled furiously from where he was, which resulted in a quick slap to the face.

"Shut yer mouth, brat." One of the men holding him grunted.

"It's really him…!" One of the men over by Ichigo called as he approached the unconscious strawberry. "Never thought I'd see the day where _the _Ichigo Kurosaki would be knocked out cold right in front of me…"

"I don't think any of us ever expected to see this." Another man agreed as he too approached the still body. "But I think I can speak for all of us when I say that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… it's the perfect time to pay back tha little bastard for how he always acted so superior just cause he could fight and he happened ta be one of the boss's favorites…" It was only once one of the men delivered a swift kick to the strawberry's head did they notice the commotion coming from the other side of the street.

"Don't touch him!" Toshirou yelled again, not even bothering to lower his voice as he continued frantically trying to escape his captor's hold. "Cowards…! Taking advantage of someone when they're unconscious…"

"I told ya to shut yer trap, kid." The man holding Toshirou growled as the other man quickly silenced the smaller's yelling with a swift punch to his stomach.

"B-Bastards…" Toshirou coughed, ceasing his frenzied attempts to get free for a moment trying to catch his breath. "L-Let me g-go…! I n-need to-"

"You really don't know when to shut up do ya, brat?" The gruff man replied, quickly cutting off the smaller boy. "Now, shut. the. fuck. up. before I shut you up." Toshirou only momentarily complied with the request as he tried to think of any way to possibly get free… he had to do _something_. The bastards crowding around Ichigo somehow seemed to know him and not only that, but every single one of them seemed like they had a personal vendetta against the strawberry… which when your unconscious and surrounded by said people, it wasn't a good thing.

"Let's just finish the bastard right here, yah?" One man suggested as he continued to glare at Ichigo's prone figure.

"How 'bout it, boss…?" Another asked as he turned back around to check and see if he got the okay from his superior.

"Do whatever you want." The man shrugged, he couldn't care less what happened to the strawberry… he had been neutralized which had allowed for the success of their plan and now that it was mission complete, Ichigo had served his purpose. "I have what I came here for… just don't take too long; we do have a schedule to keep." The addressed man cracked a wicked smile as he pulled out a small handgun from the inside of the jacket.

"NO!"

A newly found surge of adrenaline rushed through Toshirou's exhausted body the second the gun was pulled on his defenseless lover. He fought against the men's grips that were holding him with a renewed vigor and this time when one of the men slapped him, trying to shut him up, he barely felt anything. He could feel however, the grips on his arms getting less and less the more he continued to struggle.

"Little shit…" Toshirou heard one of the men mutter under his breath, not letting up even an inch.

"Get… off…of… me…!" The white-haired boy growled as he continued to slowly wriggle free. He finally managed to get one hand free, but before he could even think about trying to do anything else he realized that now there was not only a gun pointed at Ichigo, but the leader had stepped forward and now was mere feet from Toshirou… pointing his gun square in between his eyes.

"I heard about your little run in with Kazu a little bit ago… you may have gotten away that time, but I can assure you that I will not make the same mistakes that that idiot did. Now… don't. move." Keeping the barrel of the gun still aimed right in the middle of Toshirou' s eyes, he looked back over towards the men surrounding Ichigo whom had been momentarily distracted by the boy's sudden outburst. "Let's do this and leave."

"Yes, sir!" They called as the man with the gun once again aimed it at the strawberry's chest.

"WAIT!" Toshirou yelled desperately. "Don't! Please…!" He pleaded, "You have to let me help him!" Toshirou's head dropped in defeat as tears threatened to fall; he was completely out of options. "Please…"

"And what in the world makes you think that we would do that…?" The leader laughed cruelly.

"I'm the one you're after… not him." The young genius muttered. "I promise… I won't fight anymore… just _please_ let me at least call 911…"

"You surely don't think I'm that much of an idiot right?" The man laughed again, his finger grazing the trigger of his gun as his hand jiggled slightly because of the wicked laughter running throughout his entire body.

"You know that I can't and won't say anything as long as you have that gun threatening Ichigo…" Toshirou stated quite plainly. He was pretty sure that the man had already known that, but had wanted to hear him say it out-loud to know that he was well-aware of this fact as well. The man said nothing and knowing that keeping as much attention of Ichigo was essential to his survival in this situation, he had nothing left but to try again. "Please…! I c-can't lose him…" Tears finally burst from his teal eyes as his emotions finally overwhelmed him as he couldn't help but think about what life would be like without Ichigo… sure he hadn't been with the strawberry for all that long, but in that short time that they had spent together, Ichigo had changed his life in a way that he had never thought possible.

The man didn't move nor speak and Toshirou thought that he had just ignored him, but then… he smiled.

"You'll come with us, no question…?" He asked, his left eyebrow arched above his eye in question as he lowered his gun and started almost pacing between the two captured teenagers.

Toshirou slowly nodded his head, almost too shocked at the prospect that his pleas had finally at least gotten the man interested. The young genius wished more than anything that he could figure out what was running through the man's head, he was in deep thought and the suspense was tearing the white-haired boy to shreds.

"Hmm…" The leader mused as he ran his hand through his short black hair. "This could be more promising than I had originally thought…"

"Boss, you're not really gonna do it are ya?" One of the men piped up as the man continued to contemplate the situation.

"This could make things fun… so yes, I think I will." Toshirou couldn't believe what he was hearing… the man was actually going to let him try and save Ichigo? But at what cost…? His compliance couldn't possibly be worth _that_ much, could it?" The leader walked over to Ichigo's phone, picked it up and strode casually back over to Toshirou. "Release him." They did so, causing the pale boy to crash down onto the pavement, before gingerly pulling himself up again. "Here's how this is going to go. You are going to call 911, nothing else or Ichigo will die and well… you won't be in too good a shape either…" He once again aimed his gun at Toshirou, but this time instead of aiming it at his head, it was right in line with the boy's shoulder. "You will tell them that there was an accident involving two people and both are unresponsive; tell them the street and then hang up, got it? If you say anything other than what I've told you… well you know what will happen." Toshirou nodded before slowly taking the phone with trembling hands before dialing the three digit number, taking a deep breath and putting the small phone up to his ear.

_911, what's your emergency?_

"I just witnessed a car accident at the intersection of 3rd and Main Street…"

_Okay, what is your name?_

"…"

_Sir, are you there?_

"…Yes. The car collided with a telephone pole and both men are unresponsive. Please…! You have to send help…"

_Okay, please try to stay calm; an ambulance is on its way._ _What's your name?_

"…"

_Sir? Are you still there…? What is going on…?_

"…"

As soon as Toshirou had finished talking, the phone was grabbed roughly from his hand and then thrown down at the ground with enough force to smash it into unrecognizable pieces.

"Shall we…?" The man taunted as he pulled Toshirou to his feet, grabbing one of his wrists roughly and pulling him over towards an expensive looking car that Toshirou hadn't noticed until just then. "Time to wrap things up here, let's go!" Without having to turn around all the other men hesitantly left Ichigo lying still as ever and then, as the men were walking over, the boss-man, keeping a tight hold on Toshirou's wrist so that he wouldn't make a break for it, opened the trunk of the car and started rummaging haphazardly through it. After a few seconds of searching unsuccessfully he turned around looking to the group of men gathered around them; they were running out of time. "Someone get up here." He demanded and when one of the men stepped forward he hastily pushed Toshirou towards him with a quick. "Hold 'em."

By this time all the fight had just drained out of Toshirou's body. Maybe it was the fact that he knew at least Ichigo would be getting help…? Maybe he felt content that at least when he was finally captured for good it was because he had been able to trade his life for Ichigo's…? It could also have had something to do with the fact that he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the little success that he had miraculously been able to achieve, convincing the thugs to take him without killing the strawberry, which most if not all of the thugs probably wanted to do.

After a few more moments of uncharacteristic, frantic searching, the new boss withdrew from the trunk holding a loosely tied coil of thick rope.

"W-What's that f-for?" Toshirou asked quietly. "I t-told you I would c-come q-quietly…"

The man in front of him simply chuckled as he quickly unfurled the rope and walked behind the now paler than usual boy before him. "Just think of this as… insurance."

Before Toshirou knew what had happened, his hands and feet were tied securely so that every time he tried to move the rope just dug harshly into his smooth skin. The man had been just in the process of tying some extra rope around his torso so that he would have even less mobility when the low sound of sirens could be heard in the not so far off distance, it couldn't be more than a few streets away. The boss shooed off all the men around him away from the scene with a wave of his hand and everyone scattered almost instantly before the sole man left roughly gagged Toshirou with a small extra section of rope he had pulled out separately. He flung open one of the back car doors and practically threw the young boy into the backseat without care of if he ended up on the seat or not. Then he jumped into the driver's seat and raced off into the night, getting away mere seconds before the ambulance and other emergency vehicles arrived at the scene.

* * *

Isshin got to the hospital as fast as he possibly could, he had called a taxi the second he had hung up with the person from the hospital and used the time that the taxi took getting there to sit down the Kurosaki females and tell them about what had happened. It involved their brother so they deserved to know and Isshin knew that if he didn't tell them right away, Karin would without a doubt kick his ass later.

"Is he gonna be alright, dad?" Karin whispered as she held a crying Yuzu close.

Isshin also knew for a fact that he wouldn't be able to lie to Karin, so he told her the honest truth. "I don't know… I just don't know."

"Sir, we've arrived at Karakura General Hospital." The driver called from the front as he pulled up to the large building. All of the Kurosakis hastily exited the cab, Isshin only pausing for a moment to pay the driver before the bright yellow car sped off and away in the opposite direction.

The three burst into the lobby and Karin took Yuzu to sit down while Isshin went to go talk to the people at the desk.

"Hello sir, how can I help you this morning?" A rather cheerful lady asked from behind the desk.

"Yes, my son was admitted to the hospital a few hours ago after being in a car accident…"

"What is your son's name?" she asked calmly.

"My name is Isshin Kurosaki and my son is Ichigo Kurosaki." Isshin asked rather impatiently. A few unnerving moments passed as the lady typed a few things into her computer before turning back to face the elder Kurosaki.

"Right now it seems that your son is still in surgery… I'm afraid that you're going to have to wait to talk to the doctor until the surgery is complete. Feel free to take a seat in our waiting room and I will send the doctor over the moment he is available." The woman tried to offer a comforting smile, but it seemed nothing would be able to calm Isshin down until he learned the fate of his son. _He's a fighter… physically and mentally… if anyone can pull through this he can._ He thought to himself when he realized something else. Ichigo was probably the only one who would be able to tell them what had happened to Toshirou… the best case scenario would be if what the man on the phone said was true and that Toshirou just didn't happen to be in the car when it crashed… but something told Isshin that things were a lot more complicated than that.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Fun Chapter! (Well... maybe not for Shirou and Ichi, but it was sure as hell fun for me to write!) Please Review! :DD  
**


	14. Where is He?

**A/N: I realize this chapter is long overdue, but among being sick, working, getting ready to go back to college and having awful writer's block this chapter really did not want to get written. But here it is! Most of this chapter revolves around Isshin and what's going on inside his head because well, Ichigo is kinda out of it and well you all know what happened to Toshirou. ^^ Still, I hope everyone enjoys. :D**

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine. *sad face*

* * *

Chapter 13- Where is He?

Isshin Kurosaki had never truly realized the horrors of the waiting room until he found himself currently sitting in one such situation. Back in Shinkou he had always been on the other side the desk and had never really given it any thought about what it might feel like helplessly waiting to hear about a loved one's condition. He had always been the person to come out and break the news whether it was good or bad, so to find himself suddenly on the other side and not even knowing his son's condition had to be the most unbearable and unnerving feeling he had ever experienced in his life.

How long had it been since he, Yuzu and Karin had rushed to the hospital just to find that the only thing they were able to do was to trust the doctors and wait to see if they could save Ichigo?More hours than they could have ever wished, that's for sure. Isshin had tried to suggest for Yuzu and Karin to go home to rest and get some food because they hadn't gotten any news and he really had no idea when they would. Both girls blatantly refused, insisting that they wanted to be here the moment they found out anything, so Isshin had no choice but to agree to let them stay. However he still ended up convincing them to go get some food at the hospital cafeteria after awhile.

The first few hours that Isshin had arrived, he had been going up to the desk just about every half-hour to see if they could tell them anything, but when he noticed the nurses starting to get annoyed, he decided that it would be best just to sit and wait. Soon, his nerves were starting to get the best of him and knew that if he wanted to keep it together he was going to have to go outside and get some fresh air to clear his head. The ladies at the desk had his number and they had already promised numerous times to call him if he wasn't in and they got word from one of the doctors. Isshin had just pulled himself out of his seat and had just about reached the door when he thought he heard someone calling his name from somewhere across the room.

"Kurosaki?" A wise looking woman called out into the practically deserted waiting room. Isshin instantly turned on his heel, sprinting over to where the woman was standing.

"Do you have news on Ichigo?" Isshin asked hopefully.

"Are you Mr. Kurosaki's guardian?" The lady asked as she started looking through a small group of papers clipped to her clipboard.

"Yes, I'm his father. How is he?" Isshin asked warily, fearing the worst.

"He was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital and had to be rushed immediately into surgery-"

"Is he going to be alright?" The eldest Kurosaki tried again, desperate for the doctor to get to the point.

"I am pleased to say that the surgery was a success and we finally were able to stabilize him. It was a bit of a surprise that he is doing as well as he is, but he isn't out of the woods yet."

"Oh thank god…" Isshin muttered as he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in what seemed like forever. He could feel all the tension drain out of his body and he was almost tempted to collapse on the spot, but as she had said, Ichigo wasn't completely in the clear yet. "Dr… uh, what was your name again?"

"I guess I never did introduce myself... I apologize, my name is Retsu Unohana." The female doctor lightly chuckled.

"Dr. Unohana, thank you… so much…" At this point, words were all but failing black-haired Kurosaki.

"Of course," She nodded, "It is always a good day when we are able to save a person's life. The satisfaction of being able to help people is what makes this job worthwhile." Retsu smiled before quickly finishing, "Is there anything else I can help you with before I have to leave?"

"Just one question… are we allowed to see him?"

"Well..." Unohana started say before she was interrupted by a nervous looking Karin and frantic Yuzu running towards them.

"Is Ichigo okay? Do you have any news?" Yuzu asked with an expression that showed she was on the verge of tears and whether they were tears of sorrow or tears of joy would be up to whatever the doctor would say next.

"You must be Ichigo's younger sisters." The wise woman smiled as she held out her hand to greet the Kurosaki females. "As I was just telling your father, we just finished up Ichigo's surgery, but right now he is still in post-op and I'm afraid it is going to be just a little longer until he is able to have any visitors."

"About how long are we talking?" Karin added, finally joining into the conversation.

"It all depends on how he is doing and how easily we can get him settled. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more than that, but it's really up to him."

"Okay…" Yuzu sighed. She had hoped when her and Karin had walked in on seeing their father talking with the doctor meant that they would be able to finally see Ichigo, but at least she knew that he had managed to make it out of surgery okay and that fact would be able to get her through however long it would take to finally be able to see her big brother.

All three Kurosaki's profusely thanked Unohana before she finally had to leave, it was a big hospital after all and she was needed to help save many other lives.

"So… Ichigo is going to be all right after all?"Yuzu asked hopefully as she walked over to where he father was standing and he engulfed her in a warm, reassuring hug.

"If all goes well and continues to go well then yes Yuzu, I think he's going to be just fine." Isshin pulled away slightly so that he was able to look at Yuzu directly. "I do want you warn you though… it's going to be some time before your brother is back to his old self."

"Yea," The younger girl replied quietly. "But that's okay! Because we are going to be with him the entire time to make sure that he gets better and Toshirou too of course!" Yuzu exclaimed happily as she decided to walk back to where they had been camped out since their arrival, Karin having already gone back when she heard that they would be able to see Ichigo soon. Isshin was glad of this because then if she had stayed with him any longer, she might have noticed the odd little detail that her brother's young boyfriend was no-where to be seen and he wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to have to break it to her as to why.

Not even twenty minutes later, Retsu Unohana reappeared in the waiting room and after calling for the Kurosakis she had her usual warm smile on as he informed the family that they would finally be able to see Ichigo.

"I just want to warn you girls, your brother is still recovering from surgery and it might be awhile until he wakes up, so just be patient." Retsu said as she led the group of three through the hallways of the hospital until they arrived at a door with a small label to the side that read: _I. Kurosaki._ "If any of you have any questions or concerns, there is a nurse's station right at the end of this hallway." Unohana finished as he pointed down a hallway right next to them. She very quietly opened the door and put a finger up to her lips motioning for the group to be quiet as they entered the small room.

It was a very simple room, apart from the hospital bed and the teenager in it, there was a small TV hanging from the wall opposite the bed, a small side table on one side of the bed and a bunch of machines on the other side that were hooked up to Ichigo as he slept, monitoring his vitals. Other than that there were a few chairs in the room and a window opposite the door that they entered and there was also another small door that presumably led to a small bathroom; all in all it was nothing fancy, but it would do just fine.

Retsu did a quick check up to make sure that Ichigo was still doing well before leaving Isshin, Karin and Yuzu alone in the room to yet again, wait and see what would happen.

Yuzu slowly walked over to her big brother's bedside and couldn't help but let a few tears escape as she watched him sleep. There was a particularly large bandage wrapped around his head along with a cast on his left arm and Yuzu could see bandages showing from underneath the top of Ichigo's hospital clothes along with numerous smaller, yet still very noticeable cuts and bruises on his face, neck and arms. Yet despite everything, her brother looked peaceful as he slept. _Please wake up soon, big brother; we're all so worried about you._

* * *

Rangiku felt something was wrong when she didn't hear anything from either Ichigo or Toshirou over the course of the entire weekend. It was unlike them to ignore her without giving a reason or making a big deal about it first, but then when a certain Isshin Kurosaki called and asked her to come to the hospital she knew without a doubt that something was indeed wrong.

_What have they gotten themselves into this time?_ Was all Rangiku had thought on the matter as she made her way to meet Isshin at the hospital. He had asked her to meet him right outside the main entrance of the building and she couldn't help but let the worst case scenarios start running through her mind the longer she thought about them. _Whatever it is, it can't be good if one of them ended up in the hospital…_

When the strawberry blonde finally arrived at the hospital, she found a very exhausted Isshin and two very irritated looking girls.

"Hey guys," Rangiku greeted the threesome as she came to a stop a few feet in front of the oldest of the group. "So is anyone going to explain to me what in the world is going on?"

"First..." Isshin spoke up "I hate to ask this of you right now, but would it be possible for you to take Yuzu and Karin home really quickly…? I need to stay here, just on the off-case that Ichigo might wake up."

"Sure." Rangiku muttered as she casually motioned for the girls to follow her and got a total of about five steps before she realized exactly what Isshin had said. "Wait… Ichigo… is the one… in the hospital?" Rangiku breathed as she spun around on the spot to stare blankly at the man in front of her who hadn't moved an inch since she had arrived.

"Yeah…" Isshin nodded sadly.

"B…But why Ichigo? They're after Toshirou…" Rangiku stated uncertainly. "Aren't they…?"

"That was what I had thought, too."

"So then…?"

"I don't know…"

"What happened…?"

"Like I said… I really don't know…" Isshin replied dejectedly. "Ichigo hasn't woken up yet since he was rushed to the hospital… the only reason I even knew that Ichigo was in the hospital was because one of the hospital employees called the house."

"Wow… that's terrible." Rangiku sighed as she contemplated the current situation. "Toshirou must be going crazy with worry…" The strawberry looked around honestly expecting to see Toshirou come rushing out of the hospital any second asking what was taking so long, but maybe he just didn't want to leave his boyfriend's bedside…? That seemed like a logical excuse for the current absence of the young genius. "I'm guessing he's up in Ichigo's room…?"

Isshin said nothing and when he did, or didn't, It alarmed Rangiku to say the least. The man's demeanor seemed to change the moment that she mentioned her young friend's name; and that was never a good sign. "What happened, Mr. Kurosaki…?" She asked again, but this time she wasn't going to leave without an answer. There was something that he wasn't telling her and that she was sure of it… just not so sure of what exactly _it_ was; though if Isshin's behavior revealed anything, it couldn't be good and more than likely concerned Toshirou's inexplicable absence.

"Once you take Yuzu and Karin home, come up to Ichigo's room and I'll tell you everything I know. Oh, and the room is 425."

"Fineee." Rangiku sighed dramatically despite the gravity of the situation as she ushered the young girls towards the parking lot exit, now very anxious to get them home so that she could return and hopefully try and figure out what the heck was going on.

* * *

"I can see why you didn't want to get your daughters involved in all this." Rangiku stated, now sitting in one of the vacant chairs in Ichigo's hospital room. "How much do they actually know…?"

"Not much…" Isshin sighed. "They know about Ichigo's past with his old gang back in the city, but Toshirou is a completely different story… they know that he's been running into trouble with some thugs, but that's about it. Yuzu seems convinced, but in regards to Karin… she's a stubborn girl and I'm not really sure how much she really believes."

"Well, I guess it's for the best right now… we wouldn't want them getting involved in this anymore than they already are." Rangiku agreed as her gaze shifted towards the still unresponsive strawberry. "So you're saying that the people who found Ichigo said that Toshirou wasn't at the scene?"

"That's what they say." Isshin grunted.

"Well then that's good, right?"

Isshin lifted his head so that he was staring directly into Rangiku's eyes. "You've known Toshirou and what he's been going through longer than anyone… do you really think that he would just disappear without a trace if something big didn't happen to him…?"

Rangiku was silent for a few moments, trying to think about everything that had taken place recently and not to mention the huge change she saw in her young friend since he had become involved with Ichigo… or rather Ichigo's insistence to have the genius boy in his life despite the troubles he faced. "I get what you're saying Mr. Kurosaki, but then that leaves the question,_ if_ Toshirou really was with Ichigo the night of the crash, which I'm betting he was, then one, why wasn't he there when the paramedics arrived and also, where is he now?"

"Something must have happened in the time between the actual crash and when the authorities arrived..." Isshin concluded and Rangiku nodded. "But what exactly happened is the question, isn't it?"

Both Rangiku and Isshin fell silent yet again realizing that they were no closer to finding out what had happened than when Isshin had first arrived at the hospital. Although they had hopefully figured out a few things that _could _have happened, in the end they were only assumptions with no tangible proof to back them up.

"If only Ichigo would wake up…" Rangiku muttered sadly. "I'm sure he would be able to tell us what happened and hopefully even what happened to Toshirou…"

"I guess Ichigo is our only chance then… and we're just going to have to wait until he wakes up to see if he knows anymore than we do." Isshin replied quietly as he slowly walked over to Ichigo's bedside before again taking a seat and giving Ichigo's left hand a light, but reassuring squeeze hoping that his son would wake up so he could hopefully straighten this whole mess out.

* * *

After a few hours Rangiku finally left the hospital; but instead of going home, she was on her way back to the Kurosaki household. Isshin had felt guilty that Yuzu and Karin were alone at the house so he had asked Rangiku to go check in on them. The girls had become somewhat of little sisters to her, especially Yuzu. Rangiku even volunteered to stay the night with the girls and promised to make sure that they got up the next morning and got ready and out of the house in time to get to school. Isshin made a mental note to himself that after all this was over he was going to have to find a way to thank the strawberry blonde.

After school had gotten out and after many promises to keep him informed, Isshin finally left the hospital for what had to be the first time since Ichigo had been brought in. Although he knew Rangiku would deny it, he knew that she probably wanted some time to herself and asking her to stay another night with the girls was completely out of the question.

"Welcome home, dad!" Yuzu practically screamed when she saw her father walk through the front door. "How's Ichigo doing? Has he woken up yet?"

Isshin shook his head slowly. "He's doing fine, but unfortunately no, he hasn't woken up yet. You remember his doctor, Dr. Unohana, though right?"

"Of course! She was really nice."

"Well, last time she came to check on your brother she said that he was healing nicely and that hopefully he should be waking up fairly soon."

"That's great!" The young blonde exclaimed, "Does that mean that Karin and I can come visit him again soon?" she asked hopefully.

Isshin couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. "I think that's a pretty good possibility."

"So what are we waiting for then?" Karin asked, obviously rather annoyed at the fact that they weren't already rushing out the door and back to the hospital.

"Karin, calm down," Isshin insisted. "As of right now, Ichigo is still unconscious; but the nurses promised to notify me immediately if Ichigo's condition changes."

"Fine…" Karin muttered before disappearing from the room. "You better tell me if someone from the hospital calls about Ichigo!" The tomboyish Kurosaki called from the top of the stairs.

The next few hours passed by very slowly as Yuzu and Isshin tried to relax and try to past the time by a little quicker by watching some TV and before they knew it, it was almost ten at night.

"Yuzu, why don't you head off to bed? These past few days have been really tough and I'm sure you're exhausted."

"But daaaad…!" Yuzu whined as her father started guiding her out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom that she shared with Karin.

After getting both of his girls ready for and tucked into bed, Isshin tried to follow suit. It would be nice for a change to actually be able to sleep in his own bed and not have to attempt to make do with the uncomfortable hospital chairs. The eldest Kurosaki simply lay in his bed for what seemed like hours, he was tired, he wanted to sleep and he was even comfortable in his bed; but then why…? Why couldn't he fall asleep? This didn't seem like all that of a complicated question, but Isshin was so mentally and physically exhausted he just couldn't come to a conclusion. Having a basic understanding and experience in medicine he knew that sleep did wonders. It helped you heal when you were sick or hurt and gave you a break from the world when everything became too much, along with being what had to be about the best damn stress reliever in the world. He knew, er- hoped that he would be able to look at things in a better light as long if he managed to get a goodnight's sleep so he continued to lie motionless in the folds of his bed until he finally was able to drift off into a light slumber.

* * *

"Dad… Dad…?" A muffled voice could be heard in the distance somewhere. "Daaaadddd! Wake up!"

"Hey, Idiot! Get your lazy bum outta bed before I force you outta that bed!" Another rather irritated sounding voice called.

"Now tha wuldn't be very nice to hurt yer dear ol' dad…" Said father muttered still believing he was dreaming.

"Three… Two… One…" the second voiced started counting down, but for what reason, was still completely lost on the snoozing male. "Zero…" Before Isshin knew what had happened he had been kicked from his bed so that he landed in an uncomfortable tangle of body and bed sheets.

"Awn Karin, do you have to be so cruel to your dearly beloved father?" Isshin moaned as he picked himself off the floor and faced the girls that had woken him up so abruptly. "What's going on girls?"

Karin stayed silent while Yuzu looked like she was about to burst from excitement; which she did about five seconds later. "The hospital called!" She finally blurted, not being able to control herself any longer. "They said that Ichigo is showing signs of waking up!"

"So now that that's been settled, get your clothes on so we can go to the hospital before Ichigo regains consciousness." Karin added.

The girls quickly left Isshin to his privacy so that he could dress and within minutes the three of them were off to the hospital.

To the Kurosaki's slight disappointment once they arrived and all piled into Ichigo's hospital room it seemed as though nothing in particular had changed. Everything looked the same as it had when Isshin had left the previous day and Ichigo didn't _look_ any different than he had been since he had come to the hospital; but something must have happened to make the doctors think that he would be waking up soon. Everyone took their usual seats and waited anxiously in silence for something to happen… anything to happen.

It wasn't much longer after the threesome had arrived when Dr. Unohana entered and greeted Isshin and the two girls as she began to go through her usual routine of checking the strawberry's vitals and making sure all the machines were still working properly. She then informed the family that everything was fine before reminding them to come get her if Ichigo happened to stir.

The unsteady silence returned with the wise doctor's departure and the Kurosaki's went back to having to anxiously await and see what the next few hours would bring.

"Hey dad, is it okay for me and Karin to go get something to eat at the cafeteria really quick?" Yuzu piped up, finally choosing the break the silence.

"Sounds like a plan; but don't feel like you have to rush back. Me or one of the nurses or doctors will come find you if your brother-" Isshin had started to say, but froze instantly when he was sure he heard a low groan that could only have originated from the hospital bed he was currently sitting next to. He quickly and silently rose his pointer finger to his lips so that the girls knew to be quiet and then turned his attention to the orange-haired teenager.

"Ichigo…? Ichigo…" Isshin whispered softly. "Can you hear me, Ichigo…?"

Another moan, but this time Isshin could swear that his son's mouth had also slightly moved in a way that looked like he was almost trying to say something; not to mention there had also been a small, yet unmistakable twitch around the strawberry's eyes, hopefully meaning that he was conscious enough that he was trying to open his eyes.

"Big brother… please wake up!" Yuzu cried as she ran over to the bedside.

"Comon Ichigo, you can do it." Karin urged as she took a spot right next to her sister.

Very slowly, as three of the Kurosaki's waited with baited breath for the fourth Kurosaki to finally rejoin them, and after what seemed like an eternity, Ichigo finally managed to open his eyes, revealing the chocolate brown orbs that everyone had been so longing to see.

Yuzu practically exploded into tears as she almost tackled her older brother, hugging him like she hadn't seen him in years.

"Geeze Yuzu, he just woke up, give him about two seconds to breathe before you squeeze him to death…" Karin started causing Yuzu to jump off her brother instantaneously and quickly apologizing before being waved off meekly by the strawberry. Karin turned towards Ichigo before muttering, "Don't scare us like that ever again you idiot…"

"Love you too… Karin." Ichigo quietly replied, a weak smile managing to decorate his tired features.

"How are you feeling, Ichigo?" Isshin asked.

"Like I got hit by a truck…" Ichigo replied without realizing how well the saying fit his situation.

Isshin quickly turned away from his son for a split second asking Karin to take Yuzu and go find Dr. Unohana because Ichigo had finally woken up… or at least that was what he had said, but there were also other things on his mind that he didn't particularly want to discuss in front of his daughters.

Once both girls had left the room, Isshin turned once again to face his son. "Ichigo, I know this is a tough question, but I have to ask… do you know why you're here?"

Ichigo held his head in his hand for a moment trying to think of what had happened before he had lost consciousness. "I… I don't really remember… It-It's all a really big blur…" the strawberry sighed as he fell back against his pillow.

Isshin groaned. _There it went... The last hope that we had in figuring out what happened…_

"I…I I remember T-Toshirou… I'm pretty sure he was mad at me…" Ichigo mumbled.

"He was mad at you…?" Isshin asked surprised by the statement. "Why was he mad at you…?"

"I think… I think he was mad because I didn't have any other option and used my body to shield him from the impact of the wreck… so he wouldn't get hurt…" The strawberry continuing to mutter as pictures started rushing through his brain. Darkness… pain… helplessness… but then, reassurance… and then just as quickly fear...

_Get away from him!_

_Please! You have to let me help him!_

A very panicky sounding Toshirou echoing in his head as if on loudspeakers; and for a split second, Ichigo remembered opening his eyes to see his young boyfriend's form standing in front of him with his back to him, but he could tell even from the back that the boy was breathing heavily and starting to waver on the spot… it frustrated Ichigo to no ends, the few bits a pieces he had to work with, but at least it was better than nothing, yet there still remained one huge question that had yet to be answered.

"Where is he…?"

"What was that, Ichigo?"

"W-Where is he…? Where is Toshirou?" The strawberry asked, his voice exponentially stronger and more serious than it had been moments ago. "Is he okay…? He's g-gotta be okay…" Ichigo kept muttering. Isshin continued to stare at his son, wanting nothing more than to say that Toshirou was fine and recuperating in another room, but Isshin knew that that would only give his son false hope to be crushed the second the doctor came in a broke the truth that Toshirou was currently missing. So, the question became, would Ichigo take it better from the doctor or from himself…? At this point, it didn't really matter, nothing but having the white-haired boy suddenly show up would make this situation any more bearable for Ichigo.

"Dad…" Ichigo whispered pathetically. "H-He is o-okay, right….? Please… t-tell me h-he's okay…"

Without a word Isshin engulfed his son in a silent hug in an attempt to comfort him. "I'm sorry, Ichigo…"

That was all that the strawberry needed to hear to be completely overcome with grief, sorrow and most of all regret. After all he did… all his attempts at keeping the boy he loved so dearly safe… it had all been for nothing and in the end none of those triumphs meant anything because ultimately those bastards had won… Ichigo of course, knew without a doubt that this was the result of 'Toshirou's gang' getting serious… but now that they had finally gotten their filthy and disgusting hands on the boy, the tables had turned in a horrible way.

"I…I couldn't save him!" Ichigo exploded as large pearly white tears began flowing relentlessly down his face. "What kind of boyfriend am I…? I l-let him g-get taken…!"

"Ichigo…" Isshin said comfortingly. "Ichigo, you need to calm down." His tone now wavering from a one with a sense of comfort to a more stern tone before continuing. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. Okay…? You need to accept the fact that you're not perfect and you're not invincible."

Ichigo let out a short snort at irony at what his father had just said. "Heh… guess not… Toshirou said that to me as well…"

* * *

**A/N: I'm slightly sad because I wasn't able to get to the big cliffhanger I had originally planned to end this chapter with, but when I started writing the next few scenes they just weren't turning out as well as I had hoped. So instead of postponing the entire chapter, I just decided to leave the chapter off here. Not the best ending in the world in my opinion, but I've had a lot of cliffies lately and this one will do just fine for it's purposes.**

**Please Review~! :D**


	15. Initiation

**A/N: Before I say anything else I wanted to start off by thanking all my reviewers! The story just broke the 100 review mark and I'm like so ecstatic right now it's not even funny, so here's an extra special THANK YOU! :D Since we are on the subject of Thank you's everyone thank QueenofCitrus for this update, shes been updating her stories like a beast so I tried to get this chapter up asap after finishing working on another one of my stories for her cuz she was so excited about it. Okay, I'm gonna stop rambling now so we can just get straight to the chapter. :)**

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine. :'(

* * *

Chapter 14- Initiation

"You said he was mad at you, right?" The two Kurosaki males were going over what had happened for about the billionth time. Isshin wanted to make sure he had all his facts right before they started to try and devise a plan.

"Yea, because I protected him instead of saving myself…"

"So he was definitely at the crash site…?"

"Of course he was…!"

"Well, do you remember what happened after that…?" Isshin asked hopefully.

"Only bits and pieces… I kept drifting in and out of consciousness."

"But Toshirou was for sure there?"

"Yes…" Ichigo hissed. "How many times do I-"

"Relax, Ichigo… This is a very serious situation, we don't have much, if anything to work from and we have to start somewhere." Isshin replied trying to cool off his hot-headed son. "Everyone one I have talked to about the scene of the crash, said that there were absolutely no signs of anyone other than you and the cab driver… obviously that's not right, but still…"

Ichigo had really been wanting to just punch his father in the face for the past hour and the only reason that he hadn't done so already was because he was pretty sure that having fractured ribs and an broken arm, it would probably end up hurting him a lot more than his father and Isshin would inevitably just laugh and call him an idiot.

"We've accomplished absolutely nothing in the past hour… what progress you think we're going to make talking about useless stuff that doesn't even matter? They got him… and now it's my turn to go get him back." The strawberry hissed through gritted teeth. "I don't care what anyone else says, I know Toshirou was there and I know who took him!"

"But do you know _where _they took him is the real question." Isshin replied as he cut Ichigo's rant short, completely unfazed by the fact that his son looked like he could explode any minute now.

Ichigo paused a moment to think and his heart sank when he realized that although he knew exactly _who_ took his petite boyfriend... he didn't know _where_ they took him… He supposed he never thought about it considering all the times they just 'randomly' ran into the gang, but as much as he hated to admit it, what his father had said just now… it was true. He _had_ no idea where the gang's headquarters was… Toshirou had never bothered to mention it and Ichigo had never bothered to ask.

"Fuck!" Ichigo yelled in frustration as he threw his head back into pillow wanting nothing more than to strangle something, anything that he could use to burn out his frustrations. So he opted for taking one of the many pillows he was laying against and chucked in his father's direction with his one good arm as hard as he possibly could.

Isshin saw the pillow coming and he ducked easily out of the way, however a certain strawberry blonde who just so happened to open Ichigo's door right at the moment the pillow was about to make contact, wasn't so lucky.

"Ow…! What was that for?" A disgruntled and slightly dazed Rangiku whined as she picked up the wayward pillow and was just about to throw it back towards Ichigo, when the strawberry laughed.

"Sorry, Rangiku…" Isshin couldn't help but smile and chuckle a little to himself as well. As unexpected as the visit was, Ichigo needed something to take his mind of the current situation if only for the moment. "You're not gonna hit a guy who was just almost killed in a car accident, are you…?" Ichigo finished while a sly smile grew upon his features.

"Oh, you are sooo lucky that you're still recovering, or you'd be dead right now for messing up my hair." Rangiku laughed as she lazily tossed the pillow back on Ichigo's bed."But seriously, how are you doing?"She asked sincerely before taking a seat in one of the various free chairs in the room.

"I feel fine, honestly." Ichigo shrugged. "My chest only hurts when I try and move it or twist it excessively and it's weird not having control over my left arm, but I'm not the one everyone should be worried about right now…"

"Don't worry, Ichigo; both you and Toshirou are strong and we _will_ find him and bring him back." Rangiku assured her friend and she firmly believed with all her heart that they _would_ get Toshirou back. He wasn't the type of person to go down so easily, she knew that for sure.

"So… what's up…?" Ichigo asked honestly curious as to Rangiku's sudden appearance. Usually, she would call ahead of time and tell the Kurosakis when she was planning to visit Ichigo, considering she still actually had to go to school and everything.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Rangiku squealed, which elicited a few more chuckles from the two Kurosaki males. "Well, I decided to go down to the police station after school to see if they had been able to make any progress on processing the scene and at first they didn't want to tell me because I wasn't family, but then I told them that you," Rangiku said as she pointed at Ichigo, "couldn't come down because you were still in the hospital and your father couldn't come down either because he had to stay with you, but they still refused to tell me anything. Anyway! Long story short, I ended up flirting with one of the officers so that he would tell me what was going on-"

"Does this story have a point, or did you just come to brag to us that you can charm any guy into doing anything you want…?" Ichigo asked as he simply raised an eyebrow in the strawberry blonde's direction.

"Awn, Ichigo… you don't have to be so mean… I'm just trying to give you some good news." The teenager girl whined before smiling and starting again before Ichigo had a chance to retort. "Basically, when the police were examining your stuff again they found a partial print on your phone and right now they are working on identifying whose it is, because it obviously isn't yours."

"Well at least now, maybe they will believe me when we say that Toshirou was there and was taken by those thugs…" Ichigo huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest while still being careful not to actually put any pressure on his ribs, which were still very sensitive. "So what do we do now…?" he sighed after a few seconds.

Isshin seemed like he was about to say something, when there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Come on in." Ichigo said, hopefully loud enough so that the person on the other side of the door would hear him.

The door opened to reveal a slightly worried looking Dr. Unohana.

"Good evening, Doctor." Isshin welcomed the newest inhabitant of the room. "Is there anything that we can help you with?"

"Well, I just got a call from a man down at the police station, looking for a Ms. Rangiku Matsumoto?"

Rangiku practically jumped out of her seat and walked over towards where the confused doctor was still standing. "Oh, I'm right here!"

Retsu nodded before motioning for the young lady in front of her to follow her out of the room. Ichigo was expecting for Rangiku to be gone for a good long while, yet less than ten minutes later the strawberry blonde reappeared in the doorway, looking considerably less cheerful than when she had left.

"What was that all about Rangiku?" Ichigo asked not even bothering to hide his curiosity, he had truthfully been dying to know ever since the moment Dr. Unohana had asked for Rangiku.

"It was the guy I was flirting with at the police station…" she replied slowly. "They finally finished processing the print they found on your phone."

"Well, that's good right? Now we can prove to the police that the gang took Toshirou, right?"

Rangiku shook her head sadly. "The results were inconclusive…"

* * *

Toshirou's mind slowly wandered back into the realm of consciousness and the first thought to strike him was why he was not sleeping on his and Ichigo's bed, with Ichigo's always strong and reassuring arms draped over his side as the two boys slept.

As Toshirou started to become more aware of his surroundings, his brain regretfully reminded him of the crash and how after avoiding _them_ for all those years, he had finally given himself up so that there would only be one casualty in the battle instead of two.

_It's over._ One part of his brain sighed in defeat.

_Of course it's not, Ichigo will come for you._ Another part of his brain countered.

_Ichigo's in no state to be saving anyone and how do you know he even survived? Sure you were able to call 911, but what if it was too little too late?_ The young genius managed to get himself up into a sitting position, and brought his arms up so that they could hug his legs close to his body and rest his head on his knees.

He didn't miss the fact that he was now sitting huddled into a ball in the corner of a dark and dank dungeon cell. He didn't miss the fact that the only source of light was from the tiniest of opening at the top of the wall adjacent to the one he was currently leaning against, could it even be called a window? He also didn't miss the fact that his right ankle was shackled to the wall with just enough room that he could probably walk about three feet before the chain would stretch out completely; and he sure as hell didn't miss the fact that Ichigo was either in the hospital or possibly dead, and it was all his fucking fault. He had known all along that if got close with _anyone_ then it would be bad news for them… that was why he had always refused to live with anyone who offered, like Ukitake or Rangiku, or why he had always acted so cold to everyone… and it _had _worked. That was until Ichigo Kurosaki came stumbling into his life… he wished he could say that he regretted allowing himself to get close to the strawberry, but he knew he would never be able to. He knew that Ichigo was probably the most determined person he knew, not that he actually _knew_ a lot of people... but regardless, no matter how hard he could have tried, he knew that Ichigo would have inevitably gotten him to fall for the strawberry one way or another and he couldn't help but crack a small smile for the first time since he had given himself up at the thought.

A sort of knocking sound broke him out of the solemn silence, yet Toshirou couldn't decide if it was on his door or possibly on another one of the cells which almost certainly lined the building around him. It seemed far away and yet right next to him, but to be honest… he just couldn't bring himself to care. He simply ignored the sound as he knew that nothing good could possibly come from it and had actually been surprised that the only human contact he had had since arriving was when they had first thrown him into his cell. Honestly, Toshirou was also surprised that they had left him alone for so long… he had mostly lost track of how long it had been, but judging by the minuscule amount of light that made its way into his cell, it had to of been at least a few days. He didn't so much mind the solitude, he had learned to cope with such feelings over the years; it was the anticipation of what was going to happen and when that was chipping away slowly at the boy's nerves and sanity.

The rasping knocking noise came again, but it was much louder this time, probably from the cell right next to his. _Are those other prisoners? Why are they so persistent? They don't actually believe that knocking on the doors will accomplish anything?_

The young genius's unvoiced questions were swept away as the thick door that led to his cell was thrown open with a force that Toshirou was surprised didn't separate door and doorframe. _Let the fun begin._ He thought dejectedly to himself as the large male stormed into the room with a look on his face that seemed almost… eager?

"Ready for some fun today, kid?" the man snickered as he unlocked the large chain that bound the smaller male's leg to the wall and roughly grabbed one of defeated boy's arms, pulling him unsteadily to his feet. Without much more than a low chuckle, the man pulled out a pair of handcuffs that had been hidden away in his jacket and without any resistance from Toshirou, quickly secured said boy's hands behind his back. Though the handcuffs really served no purpose in his opinion, it didn't look like the kid had much if any fight left in him. So far he had done nothing to defy him; the boy just stared at the wall in front of him silently as though he had already lost all hope. After all the stories those other men had told, he had come expecting a fight and having to call back up to restrain the boy, but no such force was needed.

Toshirou wasn't sure how to feel at the moment, should he be relieved to finally be free of that damned cell or scared as to what was coming next? He soon realized he didn't feel much different than he had before, his whole being consumed by a numb feeling as though it could, in a perfect world, be a bad dream or hallucination or something like what had happened that night after Ichigo had saved him from Kazuhara that first time. Sadly, this time the situation wouldn't be able to be fixed by Ichigo calling his name and pulling him into a tight hug, or kissing him only the way he could, as he usually did when Toshirou seemed trapped in such a nightmare.

They finally arrived at a pair of double doors that didn't seem all that different than any other doors they had passed on the way, with the exception that there were two instead of one. The still as of unnamed man opened the doors to reveal a large auditorium type room, minus all the seats, leaving just a small elevated platform big enough to fit about three full grown men comfortably at the other end of the room.

Prior to actually entering the room, Toshirou had first thought that the room was empty, but the second he stepped foot into it, shouts and jeers rang out across the room in every direction, causing to boy to flinch ever so slightly at the unexpected chaotic outburst. As he was lead down the middle of the crowd, which had been divided into two groups on either side of him, he watched silently as the men laughed, yelled, or even in some cases even tried to grab parts of his tattered clothes or unusual pure as snow white hair. Even if he had wanted to protest or do anything to resist otherwise, it was plainly obvious that he wouldn't be able to do much with his hands restrained behind his back. Finally, after thinking he might just get paraded around endlessly until someone decided to break the line and go after him, inflicting much more harm than merely pulling his clothes or hair; he was brought to an abrupt halt with his back towards the front of the restless crowd. Before he had a chance to try and figure out what horrors they might have in store for him, a sudden chill seemed to sweep over the crowd and an unexpected silence filled the previously thunderously loud room.

_Something's coming…_ Toshirou thought as he scanned the room for a clue as to what caused everyone to freeze up so suddenly. Then, as he turned his head back towards the front he noticed there was now a single man on the platform in front of him with a seemingly casual grin on his face that just exuded pure evil, and he was smiling while staring _right at him_. Things had been going downhill pretty steadily lately, but judging at the way this man was staring at Toshirou, he knew that things were only getting started.

* * *

"I've had it!" Ichigo howled in frustration as he fell back against his now propped up bed. "I've had enough of going no-where and being useless! I can't stand it! The longer we walk around in circles here, the longer Toshirou is in danger with those bastards!"

"Ichigo…" Rangiku frowned as he watched the strawberry start to absolutely lose it. "We're doing the best we can…"

"Well, we need to do better!" Ichigo yelled back.

"Ichigo…" Isshin replied this time, taking Rangiku's place in the argument, knowing that the girl's heart was not in the sort to be arguing with the strawberry while being able to relate with his feelings. "You need to calm down or we'll have no choice but to call the doctors and have them *ahem* 'calm you' down… and how much would we be able to get done then?"

Ichigo glared at his father, choosing deliberately not to reply. This being mainly due to the fact that he knew his old man actually had a point. _Something he must have picked up from Toshirou, _Isshin quickly thought to himself, while grinning slightly and making sure that Ichigo couldn't see it. The strawberry took a deep breath, trying to calm down so that his heart rate would settle and he wouldn't have to find out if his dad was bluffing or actually being serious about backing up his earlier threat.

"There has to be… _something_… we can do..." The strawberry finally said very slowly, while exerting a serious amount of effort in trying to keep his temper under control.

"As Rangiku said before, we are doing _everything_ we can. This is an extremely delicate situation and not just a simple case of kidnapping. They men are very dangerous to tangle with; you should know that better than anyone…"

Isshin and Ichigo continued to argue with no end in sight. Ichigo would keep insisting that they do something that would actually make a difference and Isshin continued to retort by saying that they should keep doing what they were doing and hope for a breakthrough. To Rangiku, who was observing the exchange between father and son, it seemed terribly repetitive and both parties basically got to the point of saying the same damned thing over and over and over again. Soon, the strawberry blonde decided it would be best to let the Kurosakis argue themselves out and wandered over towards the door that led from Ichigo's room. However, when she actually swung the door open, she found her way blocked by an unfamiliar, not to mention strange looking, individual. He looked around her age, but no matter hard she tried she couldn't remember ever seeing someone quite like him around town and that was saying something because if anyone knew the entire student body at Karakura High, it was Rangiku Matsumoto. She was about to ask the mysterious male who he was, why he was here and why he looked so shocked the moment she opened the door, but was interrupted when Ichigo quickly stopped arguing with his old man and simply stared dumbstruck at the teenager next to her, with said staring right back.

"Renji…?"

"Ichigo…?"

* * *

"I'm glad you were finally able to join us, Toshirou Hitsugaya." The man grinned as waved off the other man who had been guiding the boy through the frenzied crowd.

Toshirou felt like all the blood had drained from his body and felt as though it had been replaced with ice, freezing him to the spot, unable to break eye contact with the terrifying man staring directly at him.

"I expect that it is your wish to know why I have brought you here today." The man continued without a second to spare, knowing he would not get an answer from the boy. "I suppose I can privilege you with the information to which you are entitled to; but first let me introduce myself. My name is Sosuke Aizen and all the men you see gathered here are my loyal followers and together we make up the most infamous gang in all of Japan, The Noches. I'm sure that you've heard about our little family… maybe our dear Ichigo has told you about us?"

"Wha-?" Toshirou muttered in disbelief. He had heard rumors about The Noches… they were about as bad as bad could get and even then, the members of the gang couldn't even hold a candle to that of their leader... the one and only Sosuke Aizen.

"What?" the man laughed. "Did you really not notice that the men that brought you here were not even of that pathetic gang that you have been as of late running from? Of course they had the chance to bring you in… but it soon became quite clear that they did not possess the skills or manpower it took to bring you in and I'm afraid that I was forced to step in in order for the plan to move along as scheduled." Aizen looked to the side, waved his hand and seconds later a large group of men surrounded his platform. "Now if I am correct, then I believe that we have some business to take care of." With a final snap of his fingers, Aizen seemingly glided over towards where he sat in a rather large throne looking chair that had been brought out at some point while he had been talking.

The men that had been previously standing around Aizen started marching towards the now trembling genius. "Now that all the pleasantries have been taken care of I believe it's time we have you officially become a part of our *ahem* family as the boss so curtly put it." The man in the front of the pack laughed as he and the others started to surround the white-haired boy on all sides.

_No escape._

"Let's see if you are actually worth anything to us other than just a pretty little face... though I doubt it will be pretty for too much longer."

"W…Wait…!" Toshirou finally managed to gasp. "A-Aren't you going to remove my handcuffs?"

The room erupted in laughter and Toshirou could feel the room starting to swirl as his mind raced a million miles a minute. "Why… in the world…. would we do that…?" The man managed to get out while trying to catch his breath.

"How am I supposed to fight without my arms? It's not fair… I'll stand no chance!" Toshirou shouted desperately.

"Hasn't anyone told you? Life's not fair. Get over it and you better get ready unless you feel like dying today."

Then without another word the man charged at the frozen white-haired teenager. By some miracle, Toshirou had somehow gotten enough feeling back in his body to avoid the man's first charge, but was caught off guard when another man sprinted out of line and was able to land a punch directly in his gut. The boy crumpled to the floor gasping and trying unsuccessfully to catch his breath. But there was no such mercy from the men surrounding him as a kick connected again with his chest and Toshirou couldn't stop the scream that was torn from his lips. The men continued taking turns beating on the young boy and finally when Toshirou was on the edge of blacking out, he felt his battered body being jerked off the floor by the chain that connected his handcuffs, before a pair of hands snuck their way under his armpits so as to support the upper half of his body. He could hear the laughing and cheering of the crowd around him and then everything became quite again until he heard the sadistic drawl that could belong to none other than Aizen himself.

"This only marks the start of the beginning, dear boy." Toshirou could barely comprehend the man's words, feeling the darkness growing stronger and closer to taking him over. The last thing he heard before he finally lost consciousness was a simple yet, still chilling as ever, "Regardless… well done and welcome to our family."

* * *

"What in the world are you doing here…?" Ichigo asked incredulously as his former best friend nervously made his way into the small hospital room.

"I should be asking you the same thing."

"Seriously, Renji… what the heck are you doing in Karakura…?"

"It's a long story."

"Ichigo, who is this?" Rangiku piped up from her frozen position still over by the now closed door.

"Oh, right…" Ichigo muttered to himself realizing he had never told either Rangiku or Toshirou about Renji. "His name's Renji and he lives in Shinkou City, and before you ask, Shinkou is where I lived before I came here to Karakura."

"Oh. Nice to meet you, Renji…" Rangiku said as she walked over towards the redhead extending her hand so that the two could shake. "Just for the record, my name is Rangiku Matsumoto and I'm a friend of Ichigo's from school."

"Hey." Renji nodded before turning back to Ichigo. "I'm sorry..." he muttered quickly. Ichigo simply stared, still in shock from Renji's sudden appearance.

"You still haven't answered my question, Renji. What. Are. You. Doing. Here.?"

"Uh… like I said, it's a… long story." The redhead chuckled as he started nervously scratching the back of his head. "I was in the area and heard some kids talking about how one of their classmates with _short bright orange hair_ had been hospitalized from a serious car accident and well, I couldn't believe what they were saying… so I decided to come and see it with my own eyes."

" Yea, yea… well here ya go, you happy? The 'great' Ichigo Kurosaki confined to a stupid hospital bed, satisfied now?" Ichigo spat. He wasn't really sure of how to treat this surprise visit of Renji's considering how they had left things in Shinkou and he wasn't quite sure what side the redhead was on.

"But that's not the real reason why I came…"

"Then why did you-"

"You looking for a one Toshirou Hitsugaya, aren't you?"

"How do you-?"

"I know where he's being held and I can help you get him back."

* * *

**A/N: Oh gosh... did I do good? :D I hope so, this was a big chapter in more ways than one and I was kinda nervous about the whole Toshirou/gang scenes, but I hope you guys liked!**

**Please Review~! :)**


	16. Understanding

**A/N: Sooooooooo, Hi! *nervous smile* Yea, it's been quite awhile since the last update hasn't it? Saying my life has been crazy would be quite the understatement... Winter Break, if anyone could call it a break had me busy working and getting together with friends before I came back to college. Then! the new semester started and I guess I'm just doomed to have insanely busy spring semesters and I'm still trying to nail down a good solid time to be able to work on my stories, but enough of that! The bottom line is that yes, I am extremely busy right now, but no, I have no plans whatsoever on abandoning this or any of my stories for that matter. :) Last but certainly not least, thanks so much to all reviewers last chapter!**

Disclaimer: Bleach is still not mine.

* * *

Chapter 15- Understanding

"What in the world are you talking about?" Ichigo muttered. "How would you… How do you… Renji I swear, if you're playing with me-"

"I'm not. I was a huge jerk, idiot, whatever you want to call me I deserve it, but just hear me out." Renji interjected rather forcefully.

Ichigo remained unconvinced. "How do you know about Toshirou…? How do you know I'm even looking for him or that I know him for that matter?" Ichigo sent a serious glare in Renji's direction as he continued to struggle with the idea of how exactly his former best friend came to be standing right in front of him with such information that he claimed to have. "You better start explaining if you want to stay in this room any longer…"

Renji sighed as he wandered further in the room; things were actually going about as well as he had originally hoped despite obvious setbacks thus far. Though there was a small part of the redhead that was actually quite grateful that Ichigo was currently confined to a hospital bed; he knew for a fact that if the strawberry had been capable, he wouldn't have wasted anytime in flattening Renji out on the ground with a broken nose at the very least. It was an understatement to say that they had left things a little rough back in Shinkou… all of that pretty much being Renji's doing and he knew that. It was also an understatement to say that Renji felt guilty and uncomfortable at the way things had broken off; but at least he was trying to make up for it now, right? That had to count for something didn't it?

"I know you don't believe me, but I really am here to help."

"Why should I believe anything you say? If my memory is correct, I believe we parted as enemies." Ichigo replied harshly, his arms crossed in front of him careful enough not to jostle his injured ribs.

"Like I was trying to say earlier, I'm sorry about leaving things the way we di-"

"You did." The strawberry corrected.

A nervous smile accompanied Renji's nervous chuckle that followed Ichigo's comment. "R-Right. I did. But anyway… isn't my coming here enough proof that I want to make it up to you?"

At this point, Isshin and Rangiku knowing that this was something that had to be resolved between the two boys, made their way over towards and out the door so that they could leave them to do whatever they needed to.

"What happened between them back in uh, Shinkou was it?" Rangiku asked the moment that the door has closed shut behind her.

"As you heard in there, they had a falling out right before Ichigo left to come to Karakura." Isshin stated. "Ichigo and Renji have known each other since they were very young; they practically grew up as brothers."

"Then why did Ichigo just say that they were enemies?"

"Well, that has to do with the fact that Renji was a member of the same gang that Ichigo had been a part of…" Isshin sighed. "Right before our family left Shinkou as Ichigo may or may not have told you, he cut all ties with the gang and they weren't all that happy about it; and well, Ichigo left the gang, but Renji didn't… or more specifically, hasn't."

"Oh…" Rangiku murmured as she finally realized why things were as tense as they were in the hospital room. "Was Ichigo mad because Renji wouldn't leave the gang?" Isshin couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "What?" the strawberry blonde asked visibly confused.

"Sorry." Isshin replied as he took a short breath. "It's just funny because it's was actually the complete opposite; Renji wanted to leave with Ichigo and yet Ichigo insisted he stay. I guess in the end it was a good thing that Renji heeded Ichigo's advice and stayed with the gang. As much as I know Ichigo will hate to admit it, it's a good thing that Renji's here… otherwise we would still be at a dead end right now. Hopefully, we will be able to use this situation to our advantage and be able to come up with some sort of rescue plan before it's too late.

Ichigo hadn't quite been won over by Renji's story, and yet he knew that if there was even the slightest chance that what he was saying was the truth and the redhead could actually help him get Toshirou back, he would just have to take a leap of faith as they said and hope for the best. Especially, since before Renji's arrival they had a whole lot of nothing when it came to tracking down the kidnapped boy genius.

"Why in the world do you think you know where Toshirou is being held if you've never even me-" Ichigo started asking, wasting no time in getting to this part of the conversation. There were still a few things that seemed suspicious to him personally. For instance, the fact that Renji even knew who Toshirou was and the fact that the prodigy even knew Ichigo, let alone was looking for him.

"Yea, I know this is really out there, but you need to trust me on this and if not for me then do it for Toshirou." Renji interjected as he tried to talk over Ichigo to get out what he needed to say, because if he didn't do it now, he never would. Finally, the strawberry was quiet, struck silent when he managed to hear the last of what Renji had been saying. "I… well… ugh, _fine_." Ichigo moaned, how in the world Renji knew exactly the words to say that would undoubtedly make him cooperative the strawberry would never know; maybe it was just one of those things that came with knowing someone for practically their entire life, brothers by bond instead of blood. There was no question that Ichigo's so called brother certainly had a lot of explaining ahead of him, but after all they had been through in their life, Ichigo knew that the least he deserved was a chance to clear things up without calling him out every two seconds. "This better be legit Renji, or I swear I'll-" he began before being swiftly interrupted by said redhead.

"Just give me some time to actually explain, and I swear I'll tell you everything I know." Renji pulled up a random chair from where he had assumed either Isshin or Rangiku had been sitting in previously. "You have to promise me one thing though Ichigo."

"Oh really now...?"

"You need to let me tell the story." Renji replied rather bluntly, only deciding to expand on his statement when Ichigo looked completely and utterly lost. "I mean just let me tell the story without any interruptions and save your questions till I'm done cause I know you're gonna be exploding with um."

Ichigo only gave him a slightly skeptical and annoyed look this time, so Renji decided to take what he could get and finally started weaving the complicated story that had become his life and somehow decided to intertwine, him, Ichigo and the strange white haired boy.

"It all started about a few weeks ago… the boss called a huge meeting, saying that we had a very important mission ahead of us."

"_Renji! Get your ass in gear... we need to get over to the meeting hall asap unless we wanna get skinned alive. People are talking about how what is going to be said in this meeting is going to start a new era of the gang if we can actually do what we need to. Haven't heard any specifics though… the fuckers. As for me, I hope that we are gonna start wiping out all other gangs in Japan… a good fight, that's what I haven't had in awhile." A shaggy looking man with a mass of scars crisscrossing his face and neck commented as he pulled a small handgun out of the waistband of his baggy pants. "I haven't been able to use lil'Sheila in almost three whole days…" The man continued to moan as he started to use the ratty shirt he was wearing to wipe the barrel of the gun in his hand clean._

"_What are you talking about, man?" Renji countered. "You and Raphael went out just last night and prowled the streets all night just waiting to find women who were alone so you could have fun with drugging them and whatever else the fuck you guys like to do."_

_The other man laughed a deep guttural laugh, which still to this day caused hairs on the back of the redhead neck to stand straight up. "That sure was fun last night…" he turned to Renji before continuing. "You should come out with me and Raphael sometime, it's a blast." Luckily, Renji didn't have time to reply before the man started rambling again. "But the random women we find aren't nearly as fun to kill as the other gang boys. There's just something exhilarating about seeing the defeat in their eyes and at least gang boys actually put up a fight… the second you point a gun at some random woman on the street they just faint or start pleading for their lives…"_

_Another voice quickly ended the two men's current conversation and to Renji it couldn't have come soon enough. Sometimes he wondered how he managed to keep his sanity being surrounded by bastards like the man next to him practically 24/7. The worst part of it all was acting like he cared about and even approved of these men's thoughts and actions; at least when Ichigo had still been in the gang, there had been a decent person to talk to, but that was over now._

"_You guys are one of the last to get here, have fun smelling the flowers while casually strolling on over here?" _

"_Whatever. We're here now and it hasn't even started yet by the looks of things, so we're not late." Renji argued and before either of the other men even had a chance to say anything else on the subject the redhead was lost in the crowd of people that had already gathered. The room was packed to the brim and when all the men in said room were moving about anxiously while talking and yelling amongst themselves and others across the large room it just made the room seem so much more chaotic, but honestly what else could he expect? The redhead maneuvered himself around the room until he found a section right at the very back of the room by the wall where he could at least take a full breath without feeling like he was breathing down another man's neck. Getting a chance to take in his surroundings, Renji wondered why nothing seemed to be happening despite the growing uneasiness of the crowd as they waited for whatever reason they had been all squashed into where they were like I simple tin of sardines. Renji sighed. He really had no patience for these things lately. Why the boss would call everyone to the main hall and yet let them stew for hours on end before he finally decided to show his face to make an announcement that usually lasted a total of usually five whole minutes. It had unfortunately become a fairly regular occurrence for the redhead recently. Renji regretfully turned to attempt to locate the most sane looking person in his immediate vicinity._

"_Seems like everyone's a lot more riled up than usual… what's up with that?" _

_Taking a moment to catch his breath from his most recent string of profanities the man soon turned towards Renji before finally replying._

"_Boss said that today's announcement is a monumental one that will change the course of our gang's history forever. As for me, I hope we are going to go after those bastards in central, the nerve of them actually thinking that they are even close to being on the same level of us… those morons deserve to die if ya ask me." The man shrugged it off as if what he had just said was as normal as one talks about the weather, which being where they were was pretty much the case. Then, without any warning a tall shadow appeared first in the corner of the front, where a small stage had been constructed since what seemed before the time of the gang itself. Then, after a moment of stillness the shadow moved out from behind the stage wall and practically glided front and center. The moment the man appeared, the men in the room seemed to get even more energetic if that was even possible._

"_I am pleased all of you decided to attend our little briefing today. The fact that you are here in this very room is a testament not only to you, but the men around you that you are essential to the success of our most recent and probably most important exploit to date." _

_Renji couldn't help to hold back a loud snort, and luckily all the men around him were concentrating on cheering like maniacs at the man on stage to notice anything that Renji may or may not have done. What would he be forced to do this time? Renji really didn't care at this point, when it came to the boss, everything they did was 'a monumental event in the gang's history.' He wasn't sure how he did it, but Renji found himself tuning the man's voice out as he contemplated the chances of being able to slip out of the room without anyone noticing. The roaring of the crowd got even louder as the man on stage intentionally continued to wind his men up. The energy in the room seemed to reach its climax right before a haunting silence suddenly rushed over the entire crowd as the figure on center stage simply raised his hand. _

_Noticing the room being quieter than Renji had ever witnessed, he decided now would probably be a good time as ever to try and discern what convoluted scheme the boss had come up with today that had him so excited. _

"_- take advantage of this situation to the fullest extent, let it be known that we will be going on a little field trip within the next few days." __**Oh brilliant**__…. Renji sighed, careful not to draw any attention to his actions. The last time they had gone on a __**field trip**__ was back when Ichigo was still in the gang and that was that mission had ended catastrophically for all parties involved- well, all but the man who just so happened to be smirking on center stage, clearly taking in every moment of everyone's attention on his every move._

"_Why can't we just do what we need to here, boss? What is so important that we have to leave our home?" _

_Renji looked instinctively to his right to see said speaking party was the man that he had asked about the situation earlier, before the boss had made his entrance. The man, whom Renji had to admit having some serious balls for questioning the boss so blatantly, not to mention in front of practically the entire gang. The boss did not take well to insubordination and anyone unlucky enough to commit such an act and actually be called to the boss's personal quarters had no doubt in their minds who was in charge after they left. One might think it a miracle to be able to keep so many scumbags under one man's control… but the boss had his ways to keep his men in line not to mention too petrified to even grasp the concept of defecting. Ichigo being the sole individual to have ever done such a thing… surviving coherent enough to be able to walk out of the place alive and not to mention in one-piece. If Renji ever saw the strawberry again, he would have to ask him how he managed such a feat. The conversation continued on as more of a background noise in Renji's head for the rest of the conversation, surely he would miss nothing all that important. Nothing of the sort had been mentioned as of yet, so why would it be now?_

"I hadn't thought much about it to be honest until we had actually gone through with the big move… it was crazy and I still have no idea about how Aizen pulled it off… apparently moving the largest gang in Japan to some place hours away without rousing suspicion is easier than most might think, but then again the boss-man isn't most people…" Renji rambled on as he took a moments rest from recounting the last few months of his as always, hectic life.

Isshin had wandered back into the room sometime after deciding to send Yuzu and Karin home with Rangiku, realizing that this was most definitely going to take a fair amount of time and he didn't want his girls sitting outside in the hallway all day. He simply sat in one of the vacant chairs in the room while he let Renji and Ichigo follow their conversation however they wished. Surprisingly, Isshin noticed that after Renji finally got up the nerve to actually start telling his story, Ichigo had started to slowly relax just the slightest bit; and by the time Renji had finished the part about Shinkou, Ichigo was calmer than he had been probably since he had woken up after the crash. It wasn't that he was getting particularly good news… but it was news, and that was all that the strawberry had been craving. You could ask anyone who had been in the room in the past week or so, and they would be able to tell you that without a single thought.

" I do appreciate you telling me this Renji, but you still haven't told me exactly why you claim you know where Toshirou is… you've mentioned how the gang came to Karakura, but still that doesn't explain-" Ichigo suddenly interjected as Renji began to ramble on about something particularly insignificant to the current issue.

"Right… guess that is pretty important in the grand scheme of things since he is your boyfriend after all…" Renji replied as he attempted an awkward smile in the strawberry's direction. He was after all still getting used to the idea of Ichigo being gay. After all, he hadn't _officially_ come out until he moved to Karakura and started going out with Toshirou. It was still a new concept to the redhead, and yet he felt accepting this part of his brother was the least he could for Ichigo after all they had been through. Ichigo was still Ichigo and he deserved that much… that was for sure.

Ichigo didn't say anything; he simply stared back at Renji with a look that clearly said, 'I'm waiting…' It was clear the strawberry's insistence would be impossible to quell until he finally knew what had actually happened with Toshirou. Not to mention, where his missing lover was being held, so that he could just stop wasting time and get him away from those bastards already so that he could come home with Ichigo where he belonged.

"I'm going, I'm going…" Renji half-sighed and half laughed, deciding that he had kept Ichigo waiting long enough… sure, Ichigo had eventually warmed up to the fact that he suddenly jumped back into his life in this way, but he didn't want to push his luck _too_ much. "Well, I didn't suspect too much on the fact until a few days ago, after we had been here for a week or so… I mean you never got around to _actually_ tell me where you were running off to and I doubt you would have even if we had been on speaking terms…"

"Got that right." Ichigo couldn't help but laugh.

"But anyway…" Renji continued rather quickly. "It seemed like a normal thing, apart from the fact that the entire gang has been deported on this one mission. A few days ago, we were called to one of the larger rooms in the temporary compound that we've taken up residence in, and the boss said that he had a surprise…

_What now…? The redhead thought to himself as he followed the mass of people that were heading in the direction of the large assembly hall. Hmm… maybe we'll actually find out why we came here in the first place… the boss never did actually say __**why**__ we had to come here. It was __**supposed**__ to be something big, but as far as I've seen we've been doing nothing unusual to anything we've ever done before… Realizing it did nothing to think about what was going to happen Renji finally found himself in the assembly hall where everything as was all the meetings started… pure and unbridled chaos, but what else was new?_

_Not long after waves and waves of people had finally finished packing themselves in the assembly hall, Renji quickly found himself in an extremely impatient mood standing in the middle of a roaring crowd. As luck would have it, right when he was sure he was about to lose it out of sheer boredom, the main doors to the hall parted suddenly and in almost perfect synchronicity, the crowd seemed to part seamlessly down the middle and Renji found himself now right on the edge of the crowd, a clear path just large enough for a full grown adult to freely walk between the newly dissociated groups. It was only once two figures actually entered the room that Renji even noticed the newest additions to the room. A large male that the redhead recognized as a fellow member of The Noches; one that Renji particularly liked to avoid any and all contact whenever possible, strode into the room accompanying someone much smaller than himself. It was only once the pair got closer, when Renji noticed that the second half of the pair was a young boy with unusually pearly white hair; but the weirdest thing was that Renji had never seen this kid before in his life. He was pretty sure he would have remembered someone with such an unusual hair color hanging around, especially someone of his age. It almost reminded him of Ichigo's and how he was always really easy to spot in a crowd because of his flaming orange hair. Yet this kid… he wasn't part of The Noches that was easy to tell, even if Renji had happened to miss the fact that the boy's hands were handcuffed behind his back. Regardless, what was such a young kid doing in a place like this? Obviously not of his own free will, and yet Renji hadn't heard anything about any kidnappings or anything along those lines. He couldn't possibly be the reason that the entire gang had been relocated… he's just a kid… just one kid… and yet, why else would the boss be making such a spectacle otherwise?_

"_So what's with this kid?" Renji asked the guy who had been jeering next to him right as the mysterious white-haired boy had walked by._

"_Oh, tha's not just any kid, right there." The man laughed without even bothering to face Renji. "Tha little brat right there is Toshirou Hitsugaya… it's rumored he's the son of __**the**__ Takeda Hitsugaya."_

"_And that matters, why?" Renji replied, not sure if he should know who this Takeda person was or not or if he should pretend to be really impressed with what the guy next to him had just said; but before he could react the man laughed loudly. Though, with the sound in the room just about reaching its peak, Renji had almost completely missed the normally obvious gesture. "Guess you really are as blind as everyone says… seems you weren't privy to a nutha pretty particular piece of important information…"_

"_What are yo-?" Renji attempted to ask before being cut off by the man._

"_It's actually to the point of comical how much ya don't know considering ya would have thought tha you'd be the first person he would go to…" Another low snort exited the man's mouth, "Don't tell me ya've forgotten about your old pal, strawberry already?" _

"_Ichigo...?" Renji practically whispered to himself in disbelief, "What does Ichigo have to do with anything?"_

"_I can't believe I'm tha one telling ya this, but not only is tha brat Takeda's supposed son," A loud and obvious snort from the man who seemed to be having way too much fun with what he was about to say, "But it's also goin around tha he just so happens to be strawberry's boytoy." Renji was stuck speechless by the statement and the confusion clearly showed when the man laughed gruffly again. "Ya didn't know didja?" Renji wasn't sure if he was more hurt by the fact that the person that he thought he knew the most about now seemed like a complete stranger to him or that fact that he had to learn this from some scum low-life thug… "Well, at least you won't have to worry about him anymore…"_

"_What are you-?" Renji started to ask, but even before he could finish his question, the entire room silenced as a tall figure that could only belong to the one and only Sosuke Aizen emerged into everyone's line of sight and silence swept over the previously uncontrolled chaos that seemed to run through every square foot of the large room. _

"_I'm glad you were finally able to join us, Toshirou Hitsugaya." The man grinned as he waved off the other man who had been guiding the boy through the frenzied crowd._

_Renji's world seemed to go forward in slow motion as Aizen 'greeted' the young white-haired boy. He continued to contemplate everything that he had just learned in the past few minutes and finally realized that he had been right to feel uneasy about this new mission the gang had been sent on… It couldn't a simple coincidence that this kid had ties with Ichigo… Renji couldn't help but cringe as he watched the white-haired boy trying in vain to defend himself with his arms still bound behind his back. Finally, as he was practically dragged from the room, Renji practically sprinted out as fast as he could. He needed to get away… if for nothing else than to clear his head and try to figure out what the fuck was going on._

If Ichigo had actually calmed down at one point, the moment was long gone. The instant Renji told him of the events of when Toshirou had been first brought before the gang, Ichigo was absolutely fuming. "Those bastards are lucky that I'm here, because if I were in any better condition all of those fuckers would already be dead…" For a moment when Renji had told him of that day, Ichigo would admit that for a minute or two he had been pretty damn tempted for the briefest of seconds to punch the red-headed male in front of him simply because he had just watched as all this happened, but soon realized that there was nothing else Renji could have done without being implicated.

"Sorry I didn't come sooner…" Renji muttered after the two had drifted into an uneasy silence. "I wasn't even sure myself of what was going on and it took me awhile to convince myself to give any credit to what that idiot beside me had said."

"And you have no idea where they are holding him?" Ichigo suddenly asked.

"No, sorry man." The redhead shrugged. "I didn't even know that he was there until you know…"

"Well, I guess I do owe you for this…" Ichigo mumbled quietly. It was still a weird feeling to be even talking to Renji again; he had been pretty sure that he would never see the redhead again after Shinkou. He could tell that Renji was truly sorry and wanted to help, but that didn't make it any less strange… he had never met Toshirou and yet here he was practically saying that he was ready to risk his life for him. Not only that, but there was a part of him that selfishly wanted to rescue to Toshirou himself. It wasn't that he wanted the glory, praise, or anything along those lines… he just felt that he was the one responsible for their current situation and the fact that Toshirou was not presently sitting in the room with everybody else acting like he didn't care and yet deep down enjoying being a part of something for the first time in a long time. Not to mention Toshirou was _his _boyfriend, so he felt like he should be the one to fix things, not Renji. Though if Ichigo were to have things his way, actually being the one to be able to do these things, it would be a matter of time and nothing more… time that Toshirou simply didn't have.

"Renji." Ichigo suddenly said seriously as though he couldn't believe what he was about to say, which to be honest was the complete and utter truth.

"What's up?" the redhead replied

"You know that I want to get Toshirou back whatever it takes." This statement being more so directed towards the entirety of the room, rather than solely on the male in front of him.

"Well, I think that's pretty damn obvious…" Renji replied, not exactly sure of what was coming.

It was easy to tell that it was going to take a lot more effort than he thought to actually get out what Ichigo knew he had to say. He wished he didn't have to, but where he was at right now, if he got things they way he wanted, he would end up being more of a liability than anything else and that wasn't possible. "I…I just… well-" Ichigo mumbled out as he started uncharacteristically playing with the thin sheets on his bed. He was just barely able to string the words together in his head… how in the world was he going to be able to actually verbalize what he could barely grasp mentally? The orange-haired teenager suddenly shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts before taking a few seconds to take a deep breath and in doing so attempting to collect himself physically and mentally. _I hope to god that this doesn't end up biting me in the ass, but I don't have a choice and I'm completely out of options... _

"Renji… I'm gonna need your help."

"Like you even need to ask?" The other young male laughed.

"You're already on the inside." Ichigo continued without even waiting for Renji to finish laughing. "Better yet, they have no reason to suspect you…" The strawberry continued to muse.

"You want me to find where they are keeping Toshirou?" Renji quickly finished the other male's sentence.

Ichigo nodded. It wasn't unusual for the two boys to be finishing each other's sentences, even now when they hadn't seen each other for months. "Find where he is and when the opportunity presents itself, I trust you to get him out of there, _alive._" The strawberry paused. "We may have been through a lot together, but nothing like this… be careful and don't underestimate these guys. You of all people should know-"

Renji brought up his hand before Ichigo had a chance to say anything else. "Don't worry. I can't say I completely comprehend how much exactly Toshirou means to you," A sudden pang of uneasiness flashed across the strawberry's face with Renji continuing on, determined to finish his thought before he lost the little trust that he had managed gain in the strawberry's favor. "_But_," he continued, "You have my word that I will do whatever it takes to help you get him back and maybe then you will finally believe that I am on your side."

"Well then," Ichigo managed a smile. "Let's not waste anymore time, shall we?"

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**A/N: Not one of my favorite chapters personally, but I still think it turned out pretty well considering how little I was able to work on it at a time if that makes any sense. :P I wanted to include more Toshirou in this chapter too, but it just didn't want to flow that way quite yet. Though, I do promise that there will be a bigger look into Shirou's situation next chapter. **

**Thanks for staying with me and the story! Don't forget to please Review! Thanks!  
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	17. Unfortunate Circumstances

**A/N: Um, so hi. Yeahhhh, long story short... life has just been crazy (I apologize for sounding like a broken record...) which caused writing to kind of take a backseat for awhile. I've been working on this chapter pretty hard the past few weeks in an attempt to be able to get this chapter FINALLY ready to be published. I hope the length (my longest chapter so far, me thinks ^^) will at least somewhat make up for the huge delay in posting. One last quick thanks to all readers and reviewers that are still chugging along reading and reviewing! **

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, I simply shamlessly love to play with Kubo's creations.

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Chapter 16- Unfortunate Circumstances

"He's not quite as uh, feisty as you thought he'd be, is he…?" A young man muttered to the woman striding alongside him, who was clad in nothing more than a strapless black and grey corset-like top, most of which was hidden by her long, flowing black hair and a tattered pitch black skirt that was clearly two sizes too small. The tights underneath the skirt were almost entirely see-through except for the intricate designs that looked like grey vines were weaving, crossing and climbing up and around her legs. The young man being one of the newest additions to The Noches, had been catching people's eyes in the short time since he had joined and as such, had been permitted more _liberties_ than most newbies of his kind. The woman, who was clearly many years the teenager's elder, strode carelessly a few paces ahead of him as she led him towards a _special _sectionof the cell block, located in an extremely secluded part of the base and was reserved for only the most _important_ guests of The Noches. In any other cell block you found, any and all gang members were welcome to stroll through at anytime. Whether you were a high ranking officer of the gang, or a lowly pawn with absolutely no standing; you were free to come and go as you please… as long you left your guests at least _mostly_ intact. It gave the men that came around a sense of power and not to mention it was a great way for them to vent their anger and frustrations that nothing else quite could. All the men thrived off it like an intoxicated alcoholic or a fat kid eating cake; but not here. Only a small handful of people, handpicked by the boss himself, had ever had the nerve, nor the knowledge, to show their face around any part of the seemingly deserted section of the gang's larger compound.

"Oh believe me… He's only just getting started if I have anything to say about it." The female replied as she licked her lips in anticipation. "In the times I've had the _pleasure _of meeting with him, I've noticed a certain spark in his eyes… a fire that seems to have remained intact despite all odds." She paused for a moment before continuing. She always did seem to have a flare for the dramatics. "I can't wait to see the moment when it finally succumbs to the inevitable darkness that surrounds it." A sinister expression flashed across her face and the younger male wasn't sure as to whether he should be in awe or whether he should be terrified. "I only wish that I could be the one to do it…" She finished, letting out a huge sigh as she brought her hand up to grasp the empty air in front of her as though she could grab and snuff out the so called 'spark' with her bare hands.

"What's stopping you then?" Her young companion asked as he puffed out his chest in an attempt to look more than just the skin and bones he clearly was.

"Oh, you never cease to amuse..." The female hummed as she instantly snapped back from her fake fit just to press the boy's face forcibly into her chest, whispering into his ear seductively as she forcefully ran her pale fingers through his thick curly locks. "… In ways that none of the Neanderthals here can. I knew I was in for a treat when I picked you out of that pathetically hopeless group you were brought in here with… My bet is that the majority of them are already dead." The woman chuckled before halting completely; suddenly finding that she could restrain herself no longer. Without any warning, she pounced on the boy already in her arms, wasting no time in shoving her tongue down his throat as she buried her hands once again in the boy's dirty blonde curls. It was clear to see that despite the rough manner in which she acted with the boy, her actions received no objections as the male simply opened his mouth wider as to allow her even more access to the wet cavern of his mouth. When she decided that that was no longer satisfying, the tall woman wasted no time in shoving her companion roughly against the wall behind him, practically ripping the younger male's shirt right off his chest in her haste to remove the troublesome piece of clothing. Once the shirt had been removed, the woman began working hastily at the waistband of the boy's pants, but before any more progress could be made a sudden, unwelcome voice cut through the darkness.

"Lou, do you really have so little self control that you can't go five minutes without fucking your new boytoy…?" Said woman reluctantly relinquished the powerful grip she had had on her younger counterpart before turning to face the man that had so unjustly interrupted them.

"Looks who's talking…" She snorted back. "I heard you just got a new lady friend over the weekend and I've also heard about how fucking vocal the bitch is."

"We can't all be lucky like you and find someone who will completely submit themselves to you and your sick games now can we…?" The man sneered back as he glared at the blonde teenager who had remained frozen up against the wall, Lou's right hand still securing the boy to the wall with a clearly annoyed look on her face, obviously waiting for the man to leave so she could start up again where they had left off. "I make do with what I'm given and if the goods I'm given don't perform up to snuff, well that's not my fault, but it's better than nuthin. At least this one screams… last one I had didn't do a fucking thing… it was just downright depressing." The man finished, muttering the last part before he was interrupted.

"Oh believe me, there are ways to get even the most stoic people to succumb… it's all about how you set up your game plan. I haven't had one yet that I haven't been able to break."

"Well, yippee for you…" The man muttered once again before suddenly jumping, remembering the reason he had come out in this direction in the first place. "Oh, since I came all this way I might as well tell you that the boss sent me to tell you that you're getting the green light for your little idea… well, at least most of it."

"Well, what are you waiting for…? Tell me or get out of my sight…" Lou had never had patience before and certainly wasn't going to try now. Patience was for the weak, and Lou was all about impulses and just going with your gut. She didn't wait for what she wanted, she simply took it, and if people died in the process then that made things all the more exciting.

"Woah girl… calm down there. Don't shoot the messenger, will ya?" The man replied as he took a step back, raising his hands defensively. When he was sure he wasn't about to be dropped on the spot, he beckoned Lou over and as she neared, he began to whisper something in her ear and as it was, the longer he talked, the larger the smile on her's face grew.

She turned to face her younger counterpart, who still hadn't moved from his spot next to her since they had been interrupted. "Boy are you in for a treat today, my_ little lion cub_." Lou purred as her fingers quickly traced the younger's facial features.

The older man that had joined but a few moments ago, couldn't help but snicker as Lou drew out the pet name that she had made up for the boy, practically the moment she had set eyes on him. He wasn't even sure at this point if she even remembered the boy's real name, Leon. He had only ever heard her address him by his name maybe once or twice since she had picked him out of the new candidate group a few months ago.

The twosome, now threesome, once again continued to make their way down the desolate hallway in silence. Their way lit only by small fluorescent tubes that lined the ceiling giving off just enough light for you to see where you were going and nothing more. Through it seemed to make sense when you realized that they were on the absolute lowest level of the complex. Aizen had made specific arrangements prior to arrival for the construction of the cell block to ensure two very specific requirements: one, being so far underground, the only way in or out was via an old mine shaft-like elevator to ensure there was only one way people could enter and leave. Secondly, he wanted zero natural light to be able to penetrate along with the very bare minimum artificial light, because if light was able to somehow make its way inside, then their _guests_ might actually believe there was still a tiny shred of hope left… and he couldn't let that happen. Sure, Aizen thrived on the ability to control and beat down anyone that may stand in his path to the top, but there was a certain satisfaction one gets when you are able to not only crush a person's physical body, but shatter their mind as well.

"God damn," the older man cursed as he fumbled around in his old worn and very stained pair of jeans, before pulling out a small key. "Thought we'd never get here…"

"Stop your complaining and unlock the damn door already." Lou ordered, her non-existent patience already long worn through.

For fear of what might happen to him if he didn't, the man quickly shoved the key in the small lock, turned it and swung the door open with a loud clang.

The inside of the cell was not all that different from the hallway the group had just walked through; it was a desolately bare room with nothing occupying its premise with the exception of the wall directly opposite the door which had two sets of shackles hanging on the wall; one higher on the wall, while the other was secured closer to the floor. At first glance, it seemed as though nothing except the stuffy and stale air in the cell occupied the room; however Lou knew better than to trust first appearances. It only took a few more steps into the room for the shadows in one of the corners of the room to reveal the small figure they had journeyed all the way over here for.

The small figure had to as of yet move, though whether it was because he didn't notice his visitors, or he simply didn't care, no-one but the boy knew. He continued to ignore the woman as she strode closer and closer towards him, only acknowledging her presence with a deep scowl when she forcibly turned his head to meet her gaze.

"Not being very friendly this morning are we…?" She teased, disregarding the inherent waves of hatred pouring out of every pore of the teenager's body.

"I could say the same for you." The previously shadowed figure hissed back.

"And after all I went through to give you the freedom to move about your room as you please… you really should learn to be more- _appreciative._" Lou breathed playfully. When the young boy in front of her made no such effort to respond, she sighed before quickly grabbing the boy's formerly snow-white hair, pulling so harshly he was yanked from his previous position on the floor, roughly onto his feet. "Seems like someone is in need of another lesson on how to respect your superiors…"

"I would, if anyone worth respecting were in the room…" The white haired youth managed to spit out, his head still dizzy from being forced so suddenly to his feet. It was, however, a mistake to think that Toshirou had given up. Things had understandably looked bleak after he had first been captured, but after given so much time to think, a few things had become disturbingly clear. First, if he gave up any hint that he had been broken, the men would eat him for dinner; as they had the night they had 'welcomed' him. Second, he had to have faith that Ichigo was working on some kind of plan to rescue him. The strawberry did say that he loved him, hadn't he? He wouldn't just leave Toshirou to rot in this cell… sure, he acted like an idiot more often than not, but once he set his heart on something nothing would stand in his way until he achieved it. Third and finally, if anyone knew about dealing with gangs it was Ichigo and it was simply a matter of time until he was found a way to save him from this wretched hell. In the end, things had simply descended into a waiting game. He _had_ to be strong… for Ichigo. He wasn't going to allow Ichigo to go through all the trouble to get in here just for him to find a corpse.

"Don't test me, boy." Lou replied sternly. "I'm the last person here you want to piss off… just ask my lil' lion cub ova there." She finished, taking her eyes off the young genius for only a split second to stare hungrily over towards where Leon was still standing. The other man had long since gone, he had seen how Lou usually got with prisoners… truth be told, it was never a pretty sight.

"If you're going to make a point, just make it already." Toshirou replied, not caring that baiting the woman was the last thing he should be doing. As expected, it wasn't long before he felt one of Lou's boots hit him square in the chest. After smacking the wall behind him hard, Toshirou felt the wind get knocked out of his lungs as he fell to the floor, Lou no longer holding him up by his hair.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." The woman laughed as she turned around to quickly motion for the only other male in the small cell to come closer. "Come over here with me for a moment, my cub." Leon wasted no time in getting to the woman's side, not even flinching when Lou stole a rough kiss. Sure, she was in the middle of a job, but that didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy herself as she did it, the boy was here, so why not use him? "I need you to pay close attention and do exactly what I say." Lou's tone suddenly serious as she started to whisper things into Leon's ear before smiling and drawing back closer to the door, leaving the two boys alone.

Toshirou could feel himself once again being hoisted to his feet, but this time Leon, while not quite as tall as Lou, and yet quite a bit taller than Toshirou made to lift the white-haired youth onto his shoulder. This was however, something that ended up becoming quite a bit more difficult than intended thanks to an endlessly struggling Toshirou.

"You don't have to do what she says…" Toshirou rasped out, trying to speak clear enough so that the blonde could hear him, and more importantly Lou wouldn't. "I know I won't be much help, but if we team up... w-we could probably take her o-out…" Toshirou wasn't sure when he would ever get a chance like this again, and he couldn't afford to waste it. This kid didn't seem like the others that had come; there was just something about him… something that suggested that maybe he wasn't like all the other members. So, if there was anyone that Toshirou might even have a chance to be able to connect with… this gangly looking teen was, at the moment, his only hope. Toshirou was genuinely surprised when the blonde stopped walking for just a moment as though he might be considering his options… however, when the boy simply proceeded to attempt to get Toshirou in a more manageable position before continuing again, the young genius sighed, writing it off as an unfortunate coincidence.

"Don't worry about hurting him; it's a waste of precious time and energy…!" Lou yelled from her spot back at the door," Just get on with it, or that brat won't be the only one in pain tonight." With the added… _encouragement_, Leon did as he was told and suddenly Toshirou found the back of his head throbbing intensely after a large mass of some sort smacked the back of his head. He only ceased fighting against his tormentor for a few moments in order to gather himself and his thoughts, but that seemed to be all the time Leon needed to be able to drag the smaller male the rest of the way back to the wall with the shackles before securing Toshirou's thin wrists within the restraints so he was face first against the wall. The white haired teenager refused to stop fighting; despite the fact he knew the battle had already been a long lost.

"That wasn't quite how I pictured things playing out, but it'll suffice for now." Lou hummed casually as she wandered over towards where Toshirou continued to struggle. "We'll have plenty of time to hone your skills considering our guest here isn't scheduled to be leaving our company _any_ time in the near future. There is still, however, much more we can learn here today," She laughed as her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Now, remember what I told you to do once you got him restrained?" Leon nodded mutely. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Lou asked as she crossed her arms impatiently.

Toshirou wasn't quite sure what to make of what happened next. Leon took his eyes off Toshirou for a moment as he began to clumsily unbuckle his belt, pulling it off completely and holding it gingerly in his hands as he looked from Toshirou to the belt, and back again. It was right then that Toshirou understood what was about to happen and how helpless he was to stop it.

Leon remained frozen to the spot. "If you don't do what you're told, then I'll just have to come up there and do it myself… and _believe_ me, that's the last thing you want to happen." Lou's voice rang from the other side of the cell, every muscle in her body tense in anticipation, practically salivating for the moment her young companion would finally get started. "This is serving as your lesson too and I know you don't want me to have to find other ways of educating you properly later…" She ended, causing simultaneous chills to shoot down both male's spines.

"Don't worry." Leon answered; finally shaking out of his momentary haze. "I won't waste this opportunity, Lou." In that instant, the boy grasping the belt's whole demeanor changed. His muscles relaxed, his eyes no longer seemed as though they were a million miles away, a wicked grin now firmly adorning his sunken face.

"You don't... you don't have to do this…" Toshirou breathed out hoping Leon could still be reasoned with.

"You're the one who brought this on yourself." He replied as he let out a humorless laugh. "If you value your life at all, you may as well get used to doing what you're told; especially where Lou is concerned…" Leon said in a disturbing monotone.

Not even an instant later, Toshirou was ripped from any preconceptions when he felt a sudden searing pain flash across the flat of his back; he was so surprised that without even realizing it, he couldn't help but let out a high pitched yelp. He could vaguely hear the distinct female laughter, making his blood absolutely boil, wanting nothing more than to cave in the woman's skull. Though that particular fantasy was pushed to the back of his mind as Leon continued to relentlessly strike Toshirou's back, again and again and again… harder and harder as the time stretched on. Nevertheless, Toshirou was determined not to allow Lou the satisfaction of hearing him scream. From what he had seen it would only serve to egg the woman on, and then she would simply command the boy to hit him harder and faster. The only saving grace about the whole thing was that facing the wall as he was, neither the boy, nor Lou, could see the tears he hadn't been able to hold back as they ran down his pale, exhausted features. His back burned as though they had thrown him straight into the heart of a volcano, stinging harder than a thousand wasps. Every time the belt made contact Toshirou could feel it tearing through the exposed flesh and he honestly wouldn't be surprised if his entire back wasn't already slathered a sickly shade of scarlet.

Once Toshirou was brought to the absolute edge of consciousness, was when Leon finally ceased in his actions. The white-haired youth could only faintly hear the boy behind him panting as he waited for Lou to wander over so she could inspect his work.

"Are you ready to apologize yet for being so rude to me earlier?" Lou said suddenly in an almost sickly sweet voice that made the white-haired teenager want to retch.

"Oh yea… I'm being the rude one here…" Toshirou scoffed as he turned his head as far away as possible; there was no way in hell he would satisfy this woman's insane compulsion to control him like her lowly pet.

"Such a pity… It seems that you have to yet realize who holds all the power here." She laughed before beckoning Leon over to her side.

Toshirou faintly felt his head being forced to the side as Lou pressed her left cheek gingerly against his own and whispering into his ear as she slowly ran her hands through Toshirou's fluffy locks. "Well, don't you just have the most stunning teal eyes I have ever seen… even when there is nothing but a shadow of the former spark they possessed; but even as dull and lifeless as they are now… I don't think I've ever any more breathtakingly beautiful." Toshirou was once again overcome with a sudden violent wave of nausea; it was almost too tempting, if only for the sole purpose of covering the woman in front of him from head to toe. He wanted to curse her out, he wanted to hit her, spit on her, something anything to show her that she still didn't own him; and yet, he just couldn't muster the energy to do so. He couldn't even find the strength to send a death glare in her direction and that pissed him off to no end. "Well," she continued casually as though they had just gotten together for lunch and the two were about to part ways. "Seems as though today's lesson has winded down quite nicely…" After she finished, Lou simply grinned maliciously before suddenly releasing Toshirou's wrists from the chains that had been securing them and the young genius crashed helplessly to the floor, unable to do so much as support the smallest fraction of his weight.

"Are you almost finished Lou? I'm starved and you promised to take me out any place I wanted if we stopped here first…" Leon suddenly spoke up; Toshirou probably would have laughed at the abrupt and random change of subject if he had actually possessed to ability to do so.

"Unless you want to have to wait a whole 'nother day, I suggest you let me finish up here properly." Lou replied, her tone far too casual for the matters of which she had been talking. A quick, low muttered apology was uttered from the boy now waiting by the door, before Lou looked to put the final nail in the coffin of breaking this boy's spirit once and for all. As much as she enjoyed and reveled in the sight before her, one thing still bothered her. Before she had though that Leon had done enough to extinguish the spark of hope in this boy's eyes, but now that she had a better look, she noticed that however faint and nonexistent it seemed… there was still the tiniest bit of hope there. After all this, he still had faith that all was not lost. It was just as she had initially feared. He was still holding out… not for himself, no… for someone else's sake and lucky for her, she knew how to deliver the killing blow. "You're still holding out for him to come and rescue you, aren't you?" She laughed, and for the first time since he had collapsed into a crumpled heap after she had released his arm restraints Lou witnessed a genuine expression of pure and utter shock flash across the young male's face.

Of course Toshirou wasn't sure what to expect when this bitch had walked in, but surely she couldn't know about him. Then again, how did she manage to figure out that he had been holding out for a certain person, playing to simply survive until the time came that he would be finally taken away from this hell-hole? There was only one possible explanation… she had to be bluffing. Saying certain things and seeing which Toshirou reacted towards in order to learn his weaknesses and he just couldn't take the chance of her figuring it all out, so he decided to play along.

"I…I don't know what you're t-talking about…" he managed to grit out, every breath he took was painful and it took but all his concentration not to start tearing up again from how much his body burned.

"How adorable it is, that you still think you can outsmart me when you're lying helpless at my feet."

"I don't know what you're-"

"I believe you know exactly what I'm talking about…" Lou replied as she quickly cut off Toshirou's feeble attempt at distracting her. "I know exactly what you're waiting for. You're just holding out until your beloved strawberry can get here and take you away… feel free to stop me if I'm lying." Toshirou's face instantly froze, the moment she mentioned Ichigo. "Though, I'm not sure he's in any state to be doing anything for anyone right now…"Lou grinned as she noticed, her young captive's face turn from that of shock to anger in a split second as she continued. "Poor thing though, heard he was in quite the car accident recently… he barely got off the table and even after he was out of surgery, he wasn't out of the woods yet."

Toshirou wasn't sure how to feel about this subject matter exactly… should he be angry at her for holding this over him, or thankful that she was actually telling him of what had transpired at the hospital after he had been taken. Then again, how did he even know that what she was saying was true… she had shown herself to be quite the little sadist. What on earth would drive her to be helpful and bring him good news about Ichigo's condition…? It was all so fucked up, it made his brain hurt even worse than it had been hurting before. "W-Why are you telling me all this…?" he finally couldn't resist any longer.

She let out another of her horribly high pitched laughs, making all the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Well, our session today started out a little rough… but after that you became better behaved, so think of this as a reward of sorts… I know you've been absolutely _dying_ to find out what happened to your boy after you last parted company, so listen up because I won't repeat myself." The way she continued to talk so lightly about what happened to Ichigo made, Toshirou's blood boil and also froze him at the same time… did he truly want to hear what happened to Ichigo…? Was he ready for the truth? Well, it was now or never and he knew he would never get another chance like this, so he wasn't about to see what would happen if he missed something.

"P-Please tell me." Toshirou reluctantly asked in a low whisper.

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" She started before holding up one of her long fingers and walked over towards Leon, saying something to the boy that Toshirou couldn't make out, and not even a moment later he left the room all together. "So where was I…?" Lou began again as she turned around and started walking back towards the petite figure still lying prone on the floor. "Oh right, once the poor strawberry got out of surgery, they soon found he wasn't waking up. The doctors weren't sure whether his body was over-exhausted from what had happened and he was sleeping it off, or if on the other hand it had been too much for him and his body was simply shutting down."

"Wait," Toshirou muttered in a low voice. "How the hell do you know all these specifics…?"

"I have my ways." Lou grinned maliciously, slowly striding back over towards Toshirou's still frame. "Things were rather boring at the hospital afterwards… that was until a few days ago when wouldn't ya know? The kid woke up."

For the first time since Lou had entered the room, Toshirou noticed her temper getting almost out of control. Was it simply the fact that Ichigo had recovered that had pissed her off so much, or something more? In a way it seemed almost personal… but Toshirou was sure that Ichigo had never mentioned ever having to deal with such person as this 'Lou' character.

"All seemed well and happy," The tall vindictive woman sneered as she glared absentmindedly at nothing in particular. "It seemed as though _the golden boy_ would recover good as new, find and track down those who had taken his property, take it back and all would be well again…"

Toshirou did not like at all where the conversation was heading… then something suddenly occurred to the white-haired genius. "What do you mean he _would_ recover? He _is_ going to recover and when that happens you'll be sorry."

"Ahhh," she giggled. "Such big talk from such a little boy lying before me." As if to add emphasis to her words, she didn't hesitate to deliver a quick kick to the boy's head before continuing, her usual wicked smile back upon her face. "I wouldn't be expecting a visit from your dear strawberry any time soon."

"Just you watch." Toshirou replied quite a bit more confidently than anything else he had uttered that whole day. "He'll storm in here and waste everyone, just you wait and see."

"I don't think anyone here has anything to worry about."

"And why is tha-" Toshirou started to ask before being cut off.

"He's not going to be a problem because my sources have found that he has already taken an early exit from the hospital..."

"What are you talk-"

"The boy is gone; gone for good." Lou stated bluntly.

"Oh yea, like I'm going to believe that." Toshirou scoffed. The idea was absolutely ludicrous and the woman before him was stupider than he thought if she thought she would be able to trick him with such an idiotic ruse. It had been Lou, herself that had admitted the fact that Ichigo had been recovering nicely and that he would be back on his feet in no time.

"Believe what you want boy; but I'm warnin you… you may want to change your mind once you put together the last few pieces of the puzzle." Lou could tell that very slowly, word by word, the boy's confidence was slowly wearing down, his mind wasn't about to refute the facts she was about to present him with. "Long story short, the night before the doctors were about to even consider allowing the strawberry to leave, said strawberry suddenly awoke in a cold sweat in severe pain resonating from his head. The doctor's couldn't find anything wrong, and by the time they did realize what the actual problem was, it was too late."

"Nice try; but you can't fool me with such an obvious lie." Toshirou wouldn't believe a word she said until she gave him irrefutable evidence to back her wild claims.

"Of course I knew you would try to deny the inevitable…" she sighed dramatically before smirking and as she snapped her fingers, Leon finally reappeared in the doorway, but this time he was accompanied by a young, petite lady who looked utterly and downright terrified. She wasn't in nearly as bad shape as Toshirou, but it wasn't hard to make out the bruises on her arms, face, and legs; as well as the dirt, splotches of blood, and numerous large tears decorating the dress she was currently wearing. "That is why I put in a little extra effort just for you, so that you wouldn't have to spend what's left of your miserable life in denial."

"P-Please! Let me go! I swear, I won't tell anybody! J-J-Just let me g-go!" The girl suddenly screamed. Toshirou could see that she had been crying recently due to her eyes looking rather red and puffy and it wasn't much longer after she finished speaking that the tears began once again to flow steadily down her thin face.

"How many times do I have to tell you…? You are not to speak unless given explicit permission." Lou's attention briefly stolen from Toshirou and now focused on the sobbing girl that, escorted by Leon, was now standing right beside her, her small body shaking in fear.

"P-Please…! I'll d-do anything!" The girl foolishly continued to attempt to plead with her captors.

"Shut up!" Lou yelled as she finally lost her temper and slapped the girl hard across the face, only earning more sobbing from the younger female. "I'll deal with your disobedience later, but right now I have something very important I need you to help me with." The girl simple nodded weakly, petrified at what might happened if she did anything otherwise.

"This," Lou stated loudly, her attention now back firmly on the young man in front of her as she pulled the trembling female over directly to her side by yanking hard on the girl's hair. The petite female gasped and simply continued to cry, "This is our newest special guest. She used to work at a certain Karakura General Hospital." Lou chuckled to herself. "That was, until she suddenly quit, deciding that she wanted to pursue her career in helping the poor in Africa."

"I didn't quit! You people kidnapped me and sent those faked resignation papers and letters!" The young woman blurted out, only to immediately cover her mouth with her hands when she realized what she had done.

"You little bitch! . !" Toshirou felt sorry for the young girl as she was slapped harshly across the face for each of the last four words she yelled. She didn't deserve any of this, and had no doubt only been taken because of one of her patients and their undoubtable connection with him.

"Stop. Hurting. Her." Toshirou said with what strength he could muster. She didn't deserve this… he did for unintentionally involving the poor girl in his fucked up life.

"You're in for a real shocker, if you think that this is bad. This is nothing compared to what all the men downstairs have in store for her." Lou snorted. "But her time up here is expensive and we're getting off topic. Like I said earlier, she used to be employed at Karakura General Hospital. She was as you have probably guessed, one of the nurses charged with looking after a certain Ichigo Kurosaki." The tall woman paused another moment, taking incredible pleasure in what was about to happen. "She also happened to be present when the strawberry had his _unfortunate _episode that eventually led the boy to finally leave us." Lou noticed the skeptical look still ever present on the young genius's face; he was after all a genius and what reason did he have to believe that this woman, however unfortunate looking had actually worked at the hospital. "In case you still think that I'm lying, I think you should probably have a look at this." She fumbled around for a moment in one of the girl's pockets before pulling out a thin lanyard off which hung a handful of items. The first of which had a small picture of a much happier looking woman than the one that stood before Toshirou. It listed her name, where she worked, her employee ID and other credentials that she needed to do her job; there was even the official seal of the Karakura General Hospital emblazoned in the background. There was no denying that it was the genuine article. "Go ahead." Lou prompted the woman by jerking her forward then just as quickly back, her hand still grasping the girl's hair in her iron grip. "Tell the boy the truth about what happened."

After a few whimpers, the young nurse composed herself just long enough so that she could do as she was told. "I-I um, was assigned to l-look after Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki. H-He was in v-very bad shape when he c-came to us; but thanks t-to Doctor Unohana, we w-were able t-to stabilize him."

"Get to the point, girl. I've already told him all this and I know he's just _dying_ to hear from you exactly what happened yesterday evening." Lou prompted the younger female.

"Uh… um, y-yes. Last n-night." The girl nodded quickly before continuing. "I was j-just about to leave for the n-night when I got called to Mr. Kurosaki's room with reports of him experiencing extreme pain originating from his head. We ordered him be sent for an MRI, though at f-first the doctors couldn't find anything t-that should have been c-causing the pain. It wasn't until a few hours later that they finally came to a conclusion, but w-when I w-went to go prep him for the surgery, I found him unresponsive in his r-room. We attempted to revive him, but even Doctor Unohana… even she c-couldn't d-do it… I'm so sorry!"

Toshirou could feel his body going numb and it wasn't because of the pain or the blood loss, or even the lack of having anything to eat since the night he had been taken. Ichigo… he couldn't be… he just couldn't be…! It wasn't possible! There was no way that after all they had been through he would be taken from everyone that loved him because of some stupid migraine! Toshirou wanted desperately to deny this, but the evidence was right in front of him! Ichigo was… he was… he was gone… and if Toshirou had thought he couldn't feel any worse… any lower than he did right now… he was wrong. Not only was Ichigo gone… but it had been Toshirou himself that had killed him. He must have had been cursed at birth, because throughout his entire life he had managed to be the reason that everyone important in his life, everyone that he had loved unconditionally, had at one point or another died because of him. It was the absolute lowest feeling in the world and never in his life did Toshirou want anything more than to just die. With Ichigo out of the picture, there was no longer anything for him to live for. The one truly good thing left in his life had been taken away, always doomed to remain just out of reach. Toshirou felt the last of his sanity slip away as all his walls not only crumbled, but were blown to bits and he lost all remaining control of his emotions as he began to sob uncontrollably onto the cold stone floor, with Lou simply looking down upon him and laughing at what she had caused.

With one last look at the physically and now mentally devastated white-haired boy on the floor, Lou turned to Leon.

"Finally." The boy muttered. "Thought you were going to drag that out all fucking day." Leon finished before glancing back, not towards Toshirou, but towards their newest guest. "What should we do with her? She's fulfilled what she was brought here to do…"

"Oh I wouldn't quite say that." Lou replied as she brought her face down so that it was face to face with the younger female's tear-stricken one. "Such a pretty face you have." She continued as he began to caress the girl's damp features. "We don't usually get pretty little ladies like you round these parts; but when we do, what a shame would it be to waste such precious beauty." The young girl wasn't sure what was happening; but it couldn't possibly be good. Every time she felt the taller woman's touch, she couldn't help but feel a shiver run through her whole body. "I can tell that you are _just_ the thing that all my boys have been waiting for." Lou purred as she immediately shoved the girl in Leon's direction. The girl was barely able to take a breath before Leon already had her hands securely held behind her back. "I have been workin my boys so hard lately that they've become even more stressed than usual, it's lucky that I came across such an innocent little one such as you. You'll make the perfect gift for them."

"W-What do you m-mean? I'm n-not a pet that you can just g-give to someone!" the young girl exclaimed.

"Not just someone my dear… I wouldn't want to have just one of my men keep you all to themselves. You're going to get the explicit pleasure to be able to service every single one of my men, do whatever they want whenever they want, to however many of them as they want. That way they all stay happy and will work for me at 100 percent all the time! If you think about it, you are going to be solely responsible for the successes of all my men. There's not a more important job than that! Well, of course other than my little lion right over here, but nonetheless." Lou giggled excitedly like the twisted person she was as she begun to walk towards the door; Leon following right behind while dragging the young girl who was desperately trying to free herself from his grasp.

"No, p-please! Please, I d-don't want to! I'm begging you! I'll do anything! Just d-d-don't make me do that!" She cried desperately.

"You have nothing to worry about, girl. It won't be long until you learn exactly what is needed of you. Most of the men will tell you exactly what to do, while others will simply do whatever they want without any explicit instructions."

"I-I told you! I d-don't want to! I w-won't!" She screamed, taking a moment for a last ditch effort to escape from the young male restraining her.

"Ah, but see… that's the best part." Lou replied in such a stone cold tone that made the younger girl's blood run dry. "If I'm going to have to listen to your screams all day after today, then I at least desire silence until we can properly present you." Lou stated as she turned to address the boy. "We can gag her once we get back to our quarters, but for now, I don't care what you do, just be a doll and shut her up." With nothing else available to his disposal, Leon simply put his hand across the girl's mouth so that any remaining attempts to plead for her freedom were inaudible.

"Why didn't you kill the white-haired kid? Isn't that all you've been talking about since he arrived…?" Leon suddenly asked.

"As much as I would love to see his life fade away within my grasp, there are two reasons we can't dispose of the brat just yet. For one, it's what he wants and why would I want to be responsible for granting his wish and ending his suffering? Second, despite my position, the boss has already told me personally that if I kill the boy, then he not hesitate to reciprocate. So, I simply took the second best option available to me."

"That kid is a special case for you though isn't he? I've seen the way you usually act around prisoners and you were completely different in there. Is it because of that guy Ichigo you mentioned…?"

Lou froze in place the second she had heard Leon mention the strawberry. "Don't. Ever. Mention. His. Name. Again." The tense woman hissed and Leon couldn't help but shy away from the now absolutely fuming female. Leon had never seen Lou in such a state and he shivered thinking about what she would do to relieve this anger… it could only end badly for him. "Change of plans…" Lou spat. "Throw this bitch in her cell and then meet me in my room the instant you're done. There are some things I need to teach you and depending on how well behaved you are will decide if you get anything to eat anything for the rest of the week." Leon never thought he would be pushed to the point of envying anyone in the gang, but right now he wished he could be anyone else because to say he was in for a rough night, would have to be the understatement of the century.

* * *

In all her years of being a doctor, Retsu Unohana had thought she had seen it all. She thought she had seen the most peculiar ailments and cured them, she thought she had seen all the different types of patients, not to mention being able to understand each and every one of them. What had brought them to the hospital in the first place, who if anyone came to be with the patient while they were recuperating and even the determination of some patients to not only deny their conditions, but those that were so restless that they couldn't get checked out fast enough. Sure she thought she had seen it all, but that was before she had met a certain orange-haired teenager. He had been quite the unique patient, she was sure he made an impression on everyone he met and she was no exception. His determination was outstanding… every time she had come to check on him, he had been working diligently with two of his friends along with his father to apparently find and retrieve another young boy that had apparently gone missing recently. She wouldn't deny the fact that she would miss him, he was without a doubt one of a kind, but she knew that a point came where he would have had to move on.

"Doctor Unohana?"

"Oh- Uh, yes? What is it?" the distracted doctor uncharacteristically stumbled out, turning around to see her young protégé Isane walking towards her.

"You are needed in exam room 5F." Isane was quite tall for her age and although she had a reputation for being somewhat of a klutz, she had proven herself time and again as one of the most promising young doctors in the hospital thanks to being under the tutelage of none other than Retsu Unohana herself. She was only about halfway through her residency at the hospital, but to most that met her it seemed as though she were approaching the finish line. "A young boy came in complaining of considerable discomfort in his lower abdomen. His brother believes that he may have swallowed one of their action figures last night while they were playing and that may be the cause of the pains."

"Thank you, Isane. I will head over that way shortly." Isane smiled and bowed her head in thanks before turning back around and starting to walk back the way she came.

"Oh, Isane," Unohana added before the young doctor was able to walk more than a few steps away. "Were you able to clear out room 425 yet?"

Isane paused for a moment, slightly confused as to why her mentor would be asking, but regardless she quickly rearranged the clipboards she was carrying until the one she found the one she needed and then with a lick of her finger, she began to flip through the papers until she located the one Unohana had mentioned. "Hmm…. Room 425… that belonged to a one, Mr. Kurosaki. Records show that the room has indeed been vacated and cleaned. Is there a patient waiting for it?" Isane asked as her gaze lifted from the paper to meet her mentor's.

"Ah- no, no it's quite alright, thank you, Isane."

"Is there anything else you need before I go ma'am?" Isane asked.

"No, no. I'm quite fine." Unohana replied, and yet Isane couldn't help but feel like her mentor was leaving something out.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Isane couldn't help but ask again.

"Yes, Yes. Don't worry Isane." Unohana smiled gently, but Isane was sure she knew what was bothering her mentor.

"It's about that Kurosaki boy isn't it?" Unohana didn't say anything, but Isane knew. In the years that the two had worked together, they had become very close and could tell when something was troubling the other. "We are all going to miss him; he was definitely an interesting one."

"He certainly was." Unohana smiled and nodded as did Isane. "Don't forget, the boy in exam room 5F is expecting you!" Isane called as she ran back down the hallway.

"This hospital is sure going to be quiet without them." Retsu muttered to herself. It had not been an easy decision to clear Ichigo to leave her care, especially with what had happened less than 48 hours prior. It was only after Unohana had received and reviewed all his scans multiple times that Retsu finally caved. Though it wasn't without its price… Unohana had the strawberry promise that he would keep his activities to an absolute minimum. Which from Retsu's point of view, basically confined Ichigo to nothing but bed rest for at least the next few days. After all, while his short term injuries had cleared up rather quickly, he still had to be careful about his ribs and left arm as they were still in the process of healing and it wouldn't be terribly hard to aggravate the injuries, which would only prolong the teenager's recovery.

_Good luck, Ichigo. I do hope you find the young man you've been working so tirelessly to bring home._ She thought to herself as she managed to push the orange-haired youth to the back of her mind. There were countless more people that deserved her whole attention at the moment; _a doctor's work is never done._ She chuckled as she turned to walk down the hallway that would lead towards exam room 5F and the unfortunate boy that apparently couldn't separate playtime from snack time.

* * *

"Man am I fucking pumped to finally get out of that damned hospital…!" Ichigo exclaimed from where he was sitting in the back seat of his father's small sedan. Isshin was of course driving while Karin sat in the front passenger seat with Yuzu lying up against her brother's shoulder in the back seat, haven fallen asleep practically the moment the car door closed.

"Ichigo… mind your language while your sisters are in the car." Isshin called from the front.

"Like I care…" Karin mused absentmindedly from her seat right next to her father. "Not to mention Yuzu is passed out cold so it's not like she's going to hear anything…"

"It doesn't matter." Isshin countered. "That is still language that shouldn't be used while in the company of young ladies."

"Whatever." Karin groaned.

"So anyway…" Ichigo spoke up again the break the awkward silence that had settled, "The room wasn't so bad, but what I'm really looking forward to is not having to eat all that crappy hospital food. I can't wait to have a homemade meal for the first time in what seems like FOREVER…!" The strawberry exclaimed. "I don't care what it is, my stomach is practically about to start eating itself, It's so hungry!"

"How can you possibly be hungry? We just ate lunch like an hour ago…!" Karin gaped, thought it shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise considering it seemed as though her brother was always hungry.

"Easy… hospital food sucks." Ichigo laughed.

"You're lucky they fed you at all, Ichigo." Isshin interjected. "If it had been up to me, I would have let you starve."

"Very funny, old man." Ichigo replied, "Karin never woulda let that happen, right little sis?"

Karin snorted loudly from the front seat. "Hah! Sorry, but you're on your own for this one, big brother…"

"Glad to know that you'll always be there for me, Karin." Ichigo replied, trying to sound hurt and yet only succeeding in laughing.

The car yet again settled into a comfortable silence as the Kurosakis continued their trip home from the hospital and it was only cut open when Ichigo's cellphone burst to life with its shrill ringtone.

"Hello…?"

"Yeah it's me, Ichigo."

"Renji…? Why are you calling me now? We need to keep our communications to a minimum so as not to raise suspicions… they can't find out that you and I are working together. It's just not an option… if they find out, not only will they probably kill you, but then we won't have anyone on the inside to find where they are actually keeping Toshirou and-" Ichigo rambled, caught off guard by the redhead's impromptu interruption.

"I know that Ichigo… give me a little more credit than that." Renji sighed, "You told me to call you right away if I found out anything significant about where Toshirou's being held, yeah?"

"Y-You already found him?" Ichigo stammered, he knew Renji was up to the task, but he couldn't possibly have found him already… they had only parted ways less than two hours ago. But despite the improbability of it, Ichigo couldn't help but feel his pulse start racing, his stomach sinking further and further towards the floor and his heat starting to beat faster and harder as he waited restlessly for what Renji to take another breath, getting his hopes so high they had already rocketed into space.

"Well, not exactly…" Renji paused, wishing more than anything that he could just tell Ichigo that he had found him, but knowing that it just wasn't a plausible option at the moment… and although he didn't know the boy's _exact_ location, he was pretty darn sure he was closing in on it. "Once I got back to the compound, I instantly checked the cells where I had overheard people saying something about a short kid with white hair being held, but unfortunately I didn't find Toshirou in any of them-"

"So you decided to call just to tell me that you didn't find anything…?" Ichigo growled into the phone as he swiftly cut off the redhead.

"If you'd let me finish…" Renji retorted, his voice just as fierce as the strawberry's had been. "I should have realized it wasn't going to be that easy-" Another low growl echoed from the Ichigo's side of the line, but this time Renji chose to simply keep going as though he hadn't heard it. "I walked around for a good hour or so, checking all the usual cells where prisoners are usually dumped… and again, nothing. But!" Renji interjected much more quickly this time, already learning from the last time. "I've also heard whispers about a secret cell block where the only the most important prisoners are taken."

"I do remember Toshirou mentioning something about how the gang he was always running from had been after him for as long as he could remember because of what his dad did at some point or something like that…" Ichigo mused quietly. "It certainly does explain why they went through so much trouble just to get him away from me…"

"Yeah, this just gets crazier and crazier by the second." Renji muttered, his mind reeling.

"So what are you waiting for?" Ichigo asked as he wasted no time in breaking the brief silence that had settled between the two teenagers.

"Well, that brings me to the issue at hand…" Renji sighed, half heartedly. "This supposed secret cell block is kept tightly under wraps. Only the boss and a handful of chosen followers are even allowed to access the surrounding area… most of the gang isn't even aware of its existence. I have to admit, I didn't even know of it myself… and honestly, still don't know… the talk about it is just whisper and for all we know could be complete gossip. There isn't any concrete evidence that it even exists and that's undoubtedly the way that the boss prefers it. It's a huge gamble… not to mention if I blow my cover while looking for it, which is very likely, then it's all over. At that point, it won't matter if it exists or not, if they find out that I'm looking for Toshirou, it won't just be my neck on the line…"

"You know what you have to do then?" Ichigo replied, unable to resist letting a small smirk form slightly at the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah." Renji 's face mimicking the strawberry's, the physical miles that currently between them as insignificant as they had always been when the two had been growing up practically as brothers in the city. "Find and infiltrate this supposed VIP cell block, track down the kid and bring him home intact… all while keeping my cover as a ruthless gang member and managing not to get killed myself, " The redhead laughed, "Piece of cake, right?"

* * *

**A/N: After all the work in not just the drafting, but all the editing I had to do, I feel it's impossible to not love this chapter. ^^ Lou is certainly a fucked up one though isn't she? But damn, I can't help but love her. And Leon... poor Leon. ****  
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**I really wanted to thank everyone who has managed to stay with this story even after my little impromptu hiatus. It really means a lot to me, considering how this story is pretty much my baby.  
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**Don't forget to show your love and Review! Thanks much!  
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